First Flight
by Robin Jeannene
Summary: Post New Moon. Senior year at Forks High and a new student comes to school. Strange dreams, a very certain vision, and someone's singer. AU. T for violence. I don't own Twilight, Stephenie Meyer does.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One  
**

Edward was going "camping" with his family all week due to weather and I was stuck at school. Yay purgatory. I was beginning to see what the Cullens meant when they talked about school; it was just no fun when Edward wasn't around.

It was first period, Monday morning when I heard about the only interesting thing that would happen all week.

"Hey, Bella, did you hear about the new girl?" Mike asked me.

"New girl?" I asked. Forks High didn't get many new kids so this was a bit of a shock.

"Yeah, she moved here from Canada, isn't that cool? I mean, a Canadian in Washington, it's kinda different don't you think?"

Uh oh. I could just see Mike falling over himself for this new girl in an instant. He just never learns does he? Jessica will have his head over this one.

"What's her name?" I asked.

"Danica or something I think," he didn't look a hundred percent on that. Maybe I could see her sometime today and find out her real name.

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**A/N: I know it's short but I got the idea and had to write it down. Read and Review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

I walked into US History second period and saw the object of the gossip: The new girl, Danica—or whatever her name was, I really had to find out; how embarrassing would it be if I called her that and it wasn't her name—she was talking to Mr. Waddell, who was signing her slip and giving her a textbook.

As I took my seat, Mr. Waddell directed the new girl to the empty seat behind me. She sat down, looking totally out of place with her dark skin tone and fleece-lined snow boots. I turned to face her.

"Hi, I'm Bella Swan," I introduced myself.

"Dana Quincey," she mumbled.

"Nice to meet you," I said. "You know, some people think your name is Danica, you should set them straight."

She smiled. "Thanks for the heads up."

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**A/N: Short again, I know. Unfortunately they're all mostly like that. But never fear, I will update often. R&R**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

I had my next class, English with Dana as well and Physics after that too, then we went to lunch together with Jessica and Angela.

"So, Danica—" Jessica began.

"Dana," Dana corrected.

"Right. So what's it like in Canada? Is it cold?"

Dana laughed. "It's just the same as here, except less rain and more snow in the winter."

"But doesn't it, like, snow all the time there?"

"No, no. It actually gets very hot in the summer. It only snows in winter."

"How hot is very hot?"

"Well I'm not too great when it comes to Fahrenheit but it got to fifty degrees Celsius one year."

Angela grabbed her calculator and typed something in. "That's almost 122 degrees!" she exclaimed.

"Damn that's hot!" Jessica pronounced.

"Is it?" Dana asked almost sarcastically.

"Well the human body is about 96.7 so yeah," said Angela. "That's about 36 Celsius."

"Yeah, massive heat wave, power outages all over Muskoka. People couldn't go outside it was so hot."

"So where did you live exactly?" asked Angela.

"A little town called Huntsville. I lived so far out in the middle of nowhere, my foster mom had to drive me three miles to find a school bus that could take me into town. I had three acres of forest for my back yard and one time a bear got in our trash."

"That must have been terrifying," said Jessica, fascinated.

"Not really," said Dana. "We were in the house and it only wanted our trash. It was gone by morning."

"So what brings you to Forks?" I asked.

"Well, my foster mom had a mid-life crisis and uprooted her husband and myself and moved to Seattle. Then between my mom's inattention and my dad's drinking habits, the courts took me from them and moved me to a group home in Port Angeles, but since there's no schools there, they gave me a list of schools in the area and told me to pick one. I picked Forks High because it's small. I like small schools."

"Wow," said Jessica. She struck gold with this one. "How did you end up living with your foster parents?"

"My real parents... Well one day my dad just vanished, nobody knows what happened to him, he just disappeared without a trace. Then about a month after dad went missing, my mom was attacked by something. I was at school when it happened."

"What attacked her?"

"Nobody knows. I was supposed to identify the body. Some animal tore her throat out."

Dana shivered. It was like she was uncomfortable with sharing this but in need of doing so.

"How old were you?" asked Angela.

"Eight."

"What a horrible thing to happen to someone so young!" Angela cried.

"Yeah... well now you know my life story. I'm pretty messed up, are you sure you still wanna be my friend?"

So that's what it was; she wanted people to know how messed up she was, to warn them before they make a commitment to being her friend.

"Of course we'll be your friend!" I said. "Why would you think we wouldn't"

Jessica and Angela nod in agreement.

Dana smiled. "Thanks guys."

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**A/N: R&R**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

I had PE after lunch, Dana had art, so we went our separate ways. After PE, I went to Calculus and after that headed out to my truck. As I went out to the parking lot, I noticed the new car, a little boxy thing that looked like its ancestor was a toaster.

Dana walked out of the office toward the boxy car. She looked up and saw me "Hi, Bella," she waved.

"Hi, Dana. What kind of car is that?"

"It's an Nissan Cube, I love it! It gets thirty miles to the gallon."

"Don't you worry about being seen driving it?" I blurted without thinking. I blushed; me and my big mouth.

"Not really," she smiled, obviously not offended. "I'm not really bothered by what others think of me. I'm an environment nut so I get strange looks from people all the time."

"Oh, that must suck."

"You get used to it. Anyhow, I gotta get home; hour long drive ahead of me. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, of course. Bye, Dana."

Dana waved as she drove away in her Cube. I climbed into my truck and drove home as well.

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**A/N: R&R**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

It was Friday, and Dana and I were great friends already. I wonder how she's going to take seeing Edward and Alice on Monday.

"So I had this, like, totally weird dream last night,"Jessica was saying to me, Angela, and Dana. "I was, like, shopping, but I was, like, under water or something. It was weird. And we were all there except we were mermaids and there was a giant squid and a shark... like I said, it was weird."

I wondered if mermaids were real. After all, vampires and werewolves were real. Dating a vampire makes you question myth.

"I had a cool dream," said Dana.

"What happened?" asked Angela.

"We'll I was walking to school, which is weird in itself, cause I live an hour away by car. Anyhow, there are loads of people around, just out for a stroll at six in the morning, again weird, but anything can seem normal in a dream up until the point where you wake up. Anyhow, I was walking to school and I got tired of walking, cause it's so far, so I just jump up and fly to school."

"Fly?" I asked. "Did the people in your dream freak out?"

"No, that's what's cool about it; everybody knew I could fly and just accepted it as something that's just me, like brown hair. It was cool, and I have to say, flying is fun even if I'm only dreaming it."

"That does sound kinda fun," said Angela. "Do you have flying dreams often?"

"All the time! _J'adore_ them!"

"What is jah-door?" asked Jessica, confused.

"Oh it's French. It's stronger than like but not as strong as love. _Je_ is I and _adore _is pretty self-explanatory. Stick them together and you get 'I adore'"

"Why not just say that, then?"

"It flows better in French, besides, it doesn't quite mean adore either. It's hard to explain."

"Uh-huh...okay." It was obvious Jessica had lost interest as she started going on about whatever shopping trip she had planned out this weekend.

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**A/N: R&R**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

Edward came back early on Friday night to be with me. He couldn't stay away, he said, and I understood what he meant, because I felt the same way. I told him all about my week and especially Dana, he seemed pleased that I made another friend. When I told him about Mike's reaction to the new girl, he seemed even more pleased. I knew it was because Mike wouldn't be mooning after me anymore.

Edward and Alice drove me to school on Monday. Alice had explained earlier that she and Jasper were going someplace after school and he would be picking her up so Edward and I could be together after our week apart.

As we got out of the Volvo, a sapphire blue Nissan Cube drove up and parked beside us. Dana turned off the engine and hopped out of her toaster-car (I couldn't help it; the car was just so ridiculous).

"Bella!" she chimed, skipping over to us. "Good morning—" she broke off, staring at Edward, eyes wide. "Hello," she squeaked.

"Dana, I would like you to meet my boyfriend, Edward Cullen, and his sister, Alice," I introduced. "Edward, Alice, this is Dana Quincey."

"P-p-pleased to meet you," she seemed about to stick her hand out for a handshake but pulled it back. Apparently, Dana's instincts were picking up on something mine always failed to clue in on.

"Hi, Dana," said Alice, smiling. "It's very nice to meet you."

Edward suddenly stiffened in my arms, he turned to glare at his sister. Wasn't he happy to meet my friend?

Dana mumbled something about needing to find a bathroom and took off.

"What was that look for?" I accused.

"What look?" he tried for innocent but I knew better.

"The one you gave Alice."

He sighed. "Alice is seeing Dana as a vampire in the very near future, it's very clear."

"How?" I asked, turning to Alice.

"I don't know, I can't see that part."

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**A/N: R&R**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

"Great!" I exclaimed, exasperated. True to my klutzy form, I tripped over thin air, catching my backpack on the edge of my desk, tearing it open and spilling the contents out onto the floor.

"Here let me help," Edward offered, picking up most of my books. "You realize that this is a perfect excuse for Alice to take you shopping."

"What!"

"You need a new, sturdier backpack, love," he said holding up the remains of my bag.

I sighed, "I can get myself a new backpack."

"You know that won't stop her."

"Yeah."

We finished picking up my books and papers and headed for the parking lot. Alice met us on the way there.

"This weekend, Bella," she chimed as a way of greeting.

"Fine," I sighed. There was no getting around her. Alice squealed and jumped up and down on the spot, clearly happy.

Her happiness was short lived, however, as her vision went blank and her mouth dropped open in shock. "No," she whispered. "Dana."

Edward saw whatever Alice had seen and ran at a human pace for the parking lot. Alice snapped out of it and ran too. I found myself standing in a now empty campus, alone.

Something was wrong with Dana. Something that warranted Edward and Alice's help. In the parking lot. All I could think was, _My friend is in danger! _I ran to the parking lot.

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**A/N: R&R**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

**JasperPOV**

I drove up on my Harley at three thirty. Alice would be out soon.

Some students seemed to recognize me and waved slightly. Others, mostly Freshmen, stared openly. I ignored them all.

Something blue caught my attention. I looked. There sat an almost new-looking Nissan Cube not a few stalls away. I couldn't think of any of the Sophomores from last year, who would have driven _that_ to school.

I wondered what was taking them so long. I listened for Edward, Alice, or Bella. I finally caught Bella's voice: "I can get myself a new backpack." I could hear the shuffle of paper, seems like something happened to Bella's bag, probably tripped on something, knowing her.

While Bella and Edward were picking up the mess from Bella's backpack, the parking lot was emptying, until it was just my bike, Edward's Volvo, and the blue Cube. I wondered who that belonged to. Maybe it was Bella's and I didn't know yet. But no, Bella wouldn't be caught in something that draws that much attention.

Just then, I heard mumbling. Not anyone I recognize. Maybe it was the owner of the Cube.

"Stupid volleyball... stupid Lauren...didn't have to spike it so hard...really hurts..." I felt anger from her, and the beginnings of vengeance. Apparently Lauren spiked the volleyball into this girl with more force than necessary and she was planning retaliation.

The girl in question walked around the corner into view. She had shoulder length brown hair and bright ice-blue eyes. She walked toward the blue Cube, fishing her keys from her pocket. She glanced in my direction and stopped. Her eyes widened and her heart rate quickened. I sensed an instinctual sort of fear from her.

The wind changed, then, and two things happened at once. I could hear Alice stop walking up ahead and gasp "No. Dana." And the one thing that blocked all else: the scent coming from this girl. It stopped all thought. Venom pooled in my mouth. I have never wanted to kill anyone as much as this girl. She was the best smelling human I had ever encountered in well over a century. I could almost taste her blood from where I was standing, the fear scent enhancing it impossibly.

I knew I had less than seconds to act. I so wanted to taste this girl's blood, but I knew Edward and Alice would stop me. I _had _to taste it.

In a fraction of a second, I was next to her, pulling her closer, her pulse quickening in terror. Without further hesitation, I sank my teeth into the tender flesh of her throat. Sweet, delicious blood poured forth, the most exquisite ambrosia ever tasted. But it was short-lived as I found my prey ripped from me. Someone was holding me back, I struggled.

"Jasper, no! You don't want to do this!" That voice. Alice. My mate. Pinning my arms. I stopped struggling.

Now that my head was clearing, I could see what I had done. Edward was standing over my poor victim. I could still hear her heart beating.

Bella came running around the corner now. She spotted the girl on the pavement. "Dana!" she gasped and ran forward.

"Stay back, Bella," Edward warned.

Bella stopped and stared up at me, taking in my appearance, Alice holding me back. Her eyes widened and filled with tears, I lowered mine in shame. I was willing to bet they had turned red now.

"Oh, Jasper," she cried. "Why?"

"I'm sorry," I said uselessly.

"We have to get away from here," said Edward. "Bella, take Dana's car to the house, Alice go with her and take Dana. I'll take Jasper in the Volvo."

"What about the bike?" Bella asked. "How about I take the bike, you take Dana in her car and Alice can take Jasper in the Volvo. I know you can handle being in the car with her, and Alice will be with Jasper."

I knew what she was not saying: I wasn't to be left alone, someone had to watch me. Alice might have a hard time being in an enclosed space with fresh blood, and though she would never admit it, this arrangement meant that she wouldn't be in the car when Dana's screams started, because it was obvious that she had fainted from the shock and by the quickening of her heartbeat, she would wake soon to a fiery torture.

Edward nodded, lifted Dana in his arms, and headed toward the blue Cube.

Bella gave me a wide berth and approached my motorcycle. I had left the key in the ignition and the helmet on the seat. She picked up the helmet, placed it on her head, and fastened it. She mounted the bike and kicked it in gear. Releasing the clutch a little, she tore out of the parking lot toward home, faster than she ever would in her truck.

Edward had paused to make sure Bella was on her way safely before starting Dana's car. It was then, over the engine, that I heard the beginnings of Dana's torture scream out of her.

I crumpled in disgust at what I had inflicted upon this innocent girl, and Alice half carried me to the Volvo as Edward drove away.

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**A/N: That's all I've got so far. Read and Review. Let me know if you like it!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Apparently people like this story a lot. Who knew? I sorta had it floating around in my head begging to be written. I'm sorta making it up as I go along  
**

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**Chapter Nine**

I made it back before the others for once, since I was riding Jasper's motorcycle. I pulled into the garage and turned off the engine.

Rosalie and Emmett were in there, working on Emmett's Jeep. They looked up when they saw who was riding the bike.

"Bella?" said Rose. "Why're you on Jasper's bike? And where are the others?"

"Something happened at school," I barely managed, but I knew they could hear me. "Jasper... bit someone."

They looked at each other, shocked.

"Who was it?" asked Emmett.

"A new girl, Dana," I was still in shock. I was pretty sure Dana was alive, she would be a vampire, like the others.

"Did anyone see?" Rosalie asked.

"I don't think so, everyone had gone home already."

Their questions seemed so practiced. I started to shake, going into meltdown. To my surprise, it was Rosalie who came to me. She put an arm around me and ushered me inside.

"Come on, you're going into shock, let's get you some water."

"Okay," I mumbled.

"So what do we do?" Emmett asked. "If no one saw, do we still have to move? Someone is going to miss this girl."

"She's an orphan," I said after a sip of water. "She's in a group home."

"How do you know that?" Rosalie asked.

"She's my friend," I said simply.

"You just used the present tense," Emmett noted in a rare moment of observation. "She's not dead?"

I flinched at the word. "No. Alice pulled him off of her before he could do much, but he already bit her."

"So she'll be a vampire," Rosalie stated, displeased.

"Looks like it," I said.

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**A/N: Let's hear what you think. R&R**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Okay so a wee bit longer than the others but still very short. Enjoy!  
**

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Emmett looked up, Rosalie looked too, but she turned her head quickly, covering her ears.

They could hear something approaching. It must be Edward with Dana, it would certainly explain Rosalie's reaction. Dana must be starting to change. I remembered with a shudder what it felt like to have the venom creeping its way through my veins, she must be in agony. Agony I would have to endure one day. Agony I would gladly endure to spend eternity with Edward.

It wasn't until Edward pulled up to the house in Dana's Cube that I could hear her screaming. She was definitely changing. He came in, carrying her in his arms. She had her eyes squeezed shut, her mouth wide in an agonized scream, she was clutching at herself as if to tear the pain from her.

"Dana!" I ran to her as Edward lay her down on the couch. She heard me and her screams died a little. Her eyes flew open and searched for me.

"Bella," she barely whispered, her body tense, fighting against the pain. "What's...hap...ening?"

Edward was at my side then. "You were bitten by a vampire, Alice and I saved you from being killed, but you're changing now. Changing into a vampire."

"Why...?" she trailed off, whimpering.

"It was an accident," Edward said. "Sometimes it's hard to control the urge for blood. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

I realized Dana was asking why she was bitten, not why she was changing.

Rosalie came over to Dana's side and stroked her hair back in a surprisingly tender gesture. "Hello," she said softly. "This can still be your choice, you know. You don't have to become a vampire, though it's too late to stop the change and keep you human. We could stop it if you wanted, but it will be a heavy price."

"Rosalie!" Edward admonished.

I stared at her in horror, she couldn't be suggesting what I though she was, could she?

Dana's eyes widened, having understood the suggestion. "I don't want to die," she whispered, crying a little. These could possibly be her last tears, the thought made me start to cry for my friend's loss.

We couldn't get much more out of her in the way of words, as she lapsed back into pained whimpers and the occasional agonized scream.

I sat beside the couch, on the floor, in the fetal position, not moving, and never leaving my friend's side.

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**A/N: R&R :D**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven  
**

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"Bella? Do you want something to eat?" Esme asked me.

"Not hungry," I mumbled.

Everyone had come home already. Jasper and Alice as well. Jasper was sitting next to me on the floor by Dana. His forehead rested on his knees which were pulled up to his chest and his arms wrapped around them. He hadn't looked at me once, but when he came in and saw Dana on the couch, crying in pain, I could see the anguish in his eyes, which were now a strange copper color. He hadn't consumed enough blood for them to change completely so the gold and the red were mixing oddly. Neither him nor I had moved since taking our places by the couch.

"Come on, Bella," Edward coaxed. "You haven't eaten anything all night."

Alice had called Charlie to convince him to let me stay at the house because 'I was feeling ill and didn't want him to catch it'. So here I was, for as long as I needed to stay. It was near one in the morning and I hadn't eaten since lunchtime at school. I also hadn't slept. I couldn't bring myself to be hungry or tired, though. My new friend was in pain and it was arguably my fault. I bet this wouldn't have happened if I wasn't friends with her. Not only am I a danger magnet, but I make everyone I come in contact with a magnet too.

"Bella, please," Edward continued to coax.

"I'm not hungry," I said firmly through gritted teeth. I wasn't going to move from this spot until I was sure my friend would be okay.

"Leave her alone, Edward," said Rosalie from across the room. "She's probably rethinking her decision right now."

Decision? What decision? Then it dawned on me when I saw the resigned look on Edward's face. They think I don't want to be a vampire after seeing what Dana was going through. Edward would be happy that I would want to stay human but sad that I didn't want forever with him. Rosalie would be happy too. But that wasn't my choice. I was _not _rethinking my decision to be a vampire.

"Bella?" he asked, looking for confirmation.

"I'm not." I said.

"Not? Not what?"

"Rethinking. I'm not rethinking anything," my voice held no emotion. It was dead and flat.

"What _are _you thinking, then?" he asked.

"I'm sad for her loss," I said.

"You're such a hypocrite, Bella," Rosalie huffed. Edward glared at her. "You want to be a vampire, throw away your humanity like it's nothing. But as soon as it's happening to someone else, you're suddenly against it! Make up your mind!"

I felt no change in my emotions as she ranted at me, normally I would have cowered at her anger, but right now, I felt nothing. I just looked away before responding calmly to her accusations.

"Dana didn't choose this."

That brought her up short.

"What do you mean, love?" asked Edward.

"I _want _this, I _asked_ for it. _She _didn't." That was all I was going to say on the matter and went back to staring at nothing.

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**A/N: Still not sure where I'm going with this story but I noticed that I keep getting massive amounts of readers and only one review. This makes me sad. I'm worried that people don't like my story, so I'm not posting any more until I get some love. So read and review people!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve  
**

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I don't know when I fell asleep, but when I awoke, Alice was holding out a tray of pancakes. The smell coming off of them made my stomach growl and my mouth water. Despite my mourning over the loss of my friend's humanity, I was starving. So I ate silently.

"Are you feeling better?" asked Alice.

"No different," I said in that same dead voice. "Just less hungry."

"Do you want more?"

"No." I looked out the window covering the one wall. The sun was high and covered in clouds. "What time is it?

"Three in the afternoon."

More than a day had passed. Dana was nearly silent now. Evidently it did no good to scream so she had stopped, though she did moan now and then.

"How much longer?"

"Forty-two hours, twenty-seven minutes."

"Okay." With that, I slipped back into my silent vigil, shared with Jasper, whom, I'm sure, hadn't moved in the slightest.

I lay on my side in the fetal position next to Jasper and Dana. I didn't move except once or twice when I got up to go to the bathroom. I always came back to the same spot, though, and I always sat there the same way.

Edward couldn't bear my grief, so he went hunting and told me he'd be back before Dana was finished. I barely noticed his absence, caught up as I was in my sadness.

"I'm sorry," the voice was so quiet, I wondered if I had perhaps imagined it. He hadn't spoken for over a day.

I turned my head to Jasper. He met my eyes with his strange bronze ones. "I'm so sorry," he said. "I'm always ruining your life with my terrible lack of control, but this time I ruined two lives."

I couldn't think of what to say so I just watched him with sad eyes.

"I'll make it up to her," he vowed. "It's my fault she's hurting right now, but I will make sure she is aways happy from the moment she wakes. I swear, Dana will never know sadness, fear, or pain again."

"You can't make that promise," I said in that same dead tone. "Something will upset her, something will scare her, and something will hurt her. Eventually. You can only promise that you will not actively sadden, frighten, or hurt her. That's as close as you can get, because you can't protect her forever."

"Then that is what I vow. I will never intentionally upset, frighten, or hurt her, ever again."

With that statement, I no longer felt sadness at the thought of my new friend's change. Instead, I felt hope. She would have somebody to look out for her and make sure she's happy and protected. Maybe, Dana will be happy when she wakes. That was a happy thought.

Jasper sighed in relief at the end of my mourning. It must have been hard on him to have to deal with my emotions as well as Dana's and his own. I decided to give him a break.

No sooner than I decided that, Alice had zipped down the stairs and halted abruptly in front of me.

"Get dressed, Bella!" the pixie crowed. "Dana needs new clothes and you're going to help me pick them out!"

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**A/N: All reading and no reviews makes Robin a sad girl :'( (It also makes me write slower) Review! I answer them all! (even though I don't get many) It lets me know you guys like it! It also gets me to update faster. So: R&R!**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Sorry its been awhile, I've been in the middle of a cross country move and I haven't had internet for the longest time, good news is, I have so many chapters for you guys it's not even funny. I'll post a few tonight and then one more every chance I get. Enjoy!**

**Chapter Thirteen**

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Bella POV**

I spent the the rest of the day shopping with Alice. Not something I would do willingly but this was for a good cause; Dana didn't have any clothes to her name now and I had to make sure Alice bought some clothes she could be comfortable in. Somehow I didn't see Dana wearing silk cocktail dresses, seeing as she was a tomboy. I made sure plenty of basketball shorts and t-shirts made their way into the shopping cart. Every time I added something to the cart, Alice would pout at me.

"Okay," I said after two and a half hours in a lingerie shop. "I think we have enough clothes for Dana. We should bring it back to the house before she wakes up. I know I can't be there when the change is done."

"Don't worry, Bella. Dana will be a vegetarian like the rest of us," Alice encouraged. "She'll even be in control enough for you to see her again in only a few weeks. I see Dana making very quick progress. Faster than anyone else I've seen."

"Maybe she'll have an ability," I pondered as we left the store. "What do you see?"

"I'm not too clear on that but in exactly forty-nine days, I'll bring you over and you and Dana can catch up."

"Seriously? What about the Newborn year?" I asked.

"Maybe that's her ability," Alice postulated. "Or maybe your friendship is strong enough to break that barrier. I don't see her hanging around anyone else, just us and you. You're the only human I see her around."

"Well, we can ponder that in a few days..." a thought occurred to me. "Are you sure I'm human in your visions?"

"Positive."

_Damn, _I cursed inwardly. If Dana did some uncontrollable Newborn thing and hurt me, it would have forced Edward to change me. I mentally slapped myself, was I that desperate? Carlisle promised he would change me and I still had plenty of time to convince Edward to do it instead. Either way, I was going to be changed too, no need to do stupid things.

"Edward's not going to let me see her though," I said. "Visions of controlled Newborn vampire or not, she's still a Newborn vampire, and therefore unpredictable. He won't buy it."

"I know," she said proudly. "That's why we won't tell him."

"Alice, what part of mind-reader don't you understand?"

"No worries, Jasper will be teaching Dana almost twenty-four/seven, and I will be helping him. Giving me no time to dwell on the exact day you and her will reunite. You just keep it to yourself, too and everything will work out. I'll make sure the others are out on the day in question and then I'll call you."

"Sounds like a plan, but how am I supposed to not see my friend for two months?"

"That's our next stop," she said pulling up to a Wallgreens.

After getting stationary personalized with my name, (I still don't see why Alice insisted on that) a large box of pencils, and envelopes, Alice drove me back to the Cullens' place.

"You know, Alice," I said eying the ridiculous stationary. "This it the twenty-first century, in case you weren't paying attention, and we have this amazing, new thing called e-mail. We can send virtual messages though the internet. You know, we can even talk and text through wireless telephones, they're called cell phones."

"Ha ha," Alice stuck her tongue out at me. "Dana won't know her own strength for awhile; using a computer or a cell pone without breaking it is going to be difficult. At least if she breaks a pencil, there's no problem getting replacements."

"Right."

"That and it's more fun this way."

We went inside and found Jasper and Dana in the living room. Jasper still hadn't moved.

Alice took all of our spoils upstairs to the guest bedroom which would soon be Dana's. I walked across the room to sit next to Jasper.

"Is anyone else around?" I asked him.

"They went out," he said.

"And Edward?"

"Out."

I looked at Dana. After she was finished changing I wouldn't see her for two months. That thought made me sad but then another thought pushed the other away; I would be seeing her again in less than two months. I hadn't even thought that her control would be gained so quickly. That thought made me excited and a bit impatient for that day.

Jasper eyed me, confused at my strange mood swing.

"Just this morning, you were mourning for your friend's loss," he said. "Now you're excited and impatient? I'm beginning to wonder if Rosalie is right in thinking you're a hypocrite, or maybe just bipolar."

"No, I'm not bipolar, but I know something you don't know," I sang.

"Are you going to tell me?"

"Can you keep it from Edward?"

"What could you know that you would want to keep from Edward but be perfectly happy if I or Alice knew?"

"Alice already knows, that's why I know and you don't; cause she hasn't gotten the chance to tell you yet, but I'm not going to let her. I want to be the one to tell you because you cheered me up this morning so I want to be the one to cheer you up now. That and I'm pretty sure Dana is listening and the news will cheer her up too."

"And why can't Edward know?"

"You know once I tell you."

"I can keep things from Edward."

I smiled and began to tell him and Dana the great news.

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**A/N: Anyway, like I said, sorry for the long wait. Read and Review!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen**

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**Jasper POV**

Bella slept next to the couch like the day before and woke up to a wail of agony from Dana. She sat up groggily and looked at her suffering friend. She was curled into a ball and wailing with her eyes shut tight.

"What happened?" Bella questioned, sleep still evident in her voice.

"The pain is leaving the rest of her body and is heading straight for her heart which just gets more painful," I said in a tight voice. I could feel her agony as if it were my own, but I would never complain; I deserved this, and I welcomed every stab of fiery-hot torture, wishing I could take the pain from the innocent I had inflicted it upon

"Does that mean she's almost done? Should I leave?" Bella went to get up but a small yet strong hand pushed her down again.

"You're fine," Alice said handing Bella a tray of breakfast. "She'll still be changing for a few hours more. Now eat."

"Alice is right," I said when she didn't start on her toast and omelet right away. "Once the pain starts to leave, it _does _mean the change is almost finished, but the pain leaves excruciatingly slowly. Take it from us, been there, done that."

"Though I don't remember," Alice said with a smile. That was true. She was lucky, I remembered my change in vivid detail.

"Oh," Bella said and started on her breakfast.

Her news yesterday had cheered me considerably and I felt relief from Dana as she heard that she could still see her only friend, albeit in a couple of months. Alice had told me that if we do this right, Bella could come and see her friend in sixty-three days. I had appointed myself her trainer and teacher, I would never let her out of my sight and I would never let her do anything she would regret. Namely, biting the only friend she had.

When Bella finished her breakfast Alice whisked her plate away to the kitchen. Then she came back and sat next to Bella.

"We'll have to leave soon so I can take you home before Edward comes back from his hunt," Alice said.

"I thought you said Dana wouldn't be finished changing for a few hours still," Bella protested.

"I did, but we're avoiding Edward," Alice explained. "He'll come to your house and stay with you all night, come back in the morning, shower, change, and pick you up from school. When he gets here, me Jasper and Dana won't be. That way he can't hear our thoughts."

"Okay that solves the problem of home, but what about school? You still have to go to school."

"True, but it's easy to focus on trivial thoughts at school and I won't have to try as hard to block him."

"Oh. Well, do we have to leave now?"

"Now would be good, Dana is in good hands," she smiled at me. I grimaced back. These "good hands" would have killed this girl, given the chance.

Bella and Alice left soon after that.

I sat and kept Dana company.

Edward came home not long after Dana started wailing again. He came into the living room.

"Where's Bella?"

"At her house. Alice took her. Dana's almost done." I winced in pain but it was softened by Dana's relief at the impending end.

Edward said nothing more and left the house.

Alice came back soon after and sat with me for two more hours, until, finally, Dana opened her eyes.

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**A/N: R&R**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen**

**

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Jasper POV**

Dana opened her eyes and felt relief that her suffering was over. I would never allow her to be hurt again. It was just Alice and I with Dana. I didn't want to overwhelm her with too many scents and stares. It would be easier to take care of her with less people trying to help out.

"Hi, Dana," said Alice softly, not wanting to startle the Newborn. "Remember me?"

Dana stared at Alice for a long moment. In that moment, I felt her emotions flick around like a slide show on fast-forward. Confusion, wariness, recognition, confusion again, relief... then her red eyes slid to me; fear, recognition, hurt, more fear, anger. I knew she was going to hate me for all the pain I put her through in the last three days. I was then completely thrown by her next emotions while staring at me; her anger faded and was replaced by sadness, then reluctant acceptance, and then, amazingly, forgiveness. I would spend eternity trying to deserve that forgiveness.

She turned back to Alice, the whole exchange lasted less than a second.

"Alice, right?" were Dana's first words as a vampire.

"You remember!" Alice squealed, clapping her hands. "And after only meeting me once!"

"You left quite the impression," Dana said dryly. "I took one look at you and knew there was something... I dunno... off about you. You and Edward."

"You remember Edward too!" Alice squealed in delight.

"Yeah, Bella wouldn't shut up about him all week. It's great to know they love each other so much." Dana seemed so calm. I remembered what Bella had said about Alice's vision, I could truly believe it, just seeing the girl before me. But that didn't mean I was going to let my guard down.

Dana turned back to me, then. "I don't believe we ever had the pleasure of being introduced, before things got off on the wrong foot."

"Jasper," I said. I looked directly into her eyes. "I can't tell you how sorry I am, that I...did this to you." I hung my head in shame.

She stared at me for a long moment, she seemed to be thinking something over. She turned to Alice. "Why does my throat hurt?"

"You're thirsty. You're a vampire now, so you thirst for blood."

Dana looked horrified.

"But you don't have to drink human blood," Alice amended hastily. "You can hunt animals like the rest of our family."

"Okay," she nodded. She still seemed to be piecing things together. Dana turned back to me. "Why did you bite me?"

"I couldn't help it, I'm sorry. You smelled like nothing else I've ever encountered."

"So you hunt animals?"

"Yes, but I'm not the best when it comes to control," I continued to hang my head in shame.

"So even though you hunt animals, you still crave human blood?"

"We all do in some way," Alice interjected. "The urge is just easier to control for some than it is for others."

"Okay so I think I've got it, correct me if I'm wrong: You and your family hunt animals instead of humans, but human blood is still appealing—"

"More appealing," Alice corrected.

"More appealing," Dana amended. "So one day a vampire who hunts animals, and doesn't have the greatest control over his more natural urges, comes across a human who smells more appealing than all others he's encountered. He tries to drain her blood but is unsuccessful because he is pulled off before he can finish the job. As a result, the human changes into a vampire herself. Is that about right?"

"Er... yes," said Alice delicately. "More or less."

Dana turned back to me. "Okay, so the way I see it is this: That vampire couldn't control the urge to bite that human, and therefore, through no fault of his own, she becomes a vampire."

I looked into her eyes. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. _Through no fault of his own..._ It was spinning around in my head. Did she really believe that?

"I forgive you, Jasper," she said softly. "I know that if you had the choice, you wouldn't have done it. The grief in your eyes is proof enough."

I smiled weakly. I would definitely be spending eternity earning that forgiveness

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**A/N: R&R**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: As promised, here is the next chapter! I'll try to get chapter 17 up tomorrow ^_^**

**Chapter Sixteen  
**

**

* * *

Jasper POV**

We spent the rest of the day hunting and teaching Dana how to hunt. Everything went well with no bumps along the road. She didn't even growl when Alice got closer than I would have allowed while Dana was stalking a buck.

We got back to the house as the sun was setting behind the clouds. It was as we were walking through the back door that Dana paused, staring thoughtfully at the hidden sun.

"Dana?" Alice asked.

"What happens when a vampire gets caught in the sunlight?" she asked.

I chuckled. "We'll show you someday."

"We don't burn?"

Alice giggled. "That's myth."

"Oh, okay."

And with out further ado, Dana pushed the door open and entered the house.

Alice led her upstairs to her new room. I could hear her explaining the various aspects of her closet. "Over here is the formal dresses, here are the sun-dresses, these are the skirts, sorted longest to shortest. These are the pants, sorted by material, all top of the line of course, capris, and shorts as well. Over here are the shirts sorted by neckline, sleeve length, and material. Any questions?"

I could feel Dana's wariness coming off of her in waves so think I was almost surprised Alice couldn't feel it. She obviously didn't like the clothes Alice was showing her, or maybe she was wary of my favorite, excitable pixie. "What's in those drawers?" she asked.

"Oh, don't worry about any of that. Bella insisted I buy some... less fashionable clothes. They're all in there cause I promised her I wouldn't throw them out or give them to charity. Don't worry yourself over those. Oh and I almost forgot; since you're still rather... messy when it comes to hunting, over here is where you can find clothes to hunt in so you don't ruin your good ones."

"Oh, okay. Thanks."

"Okay, so I'll leave you to your washing up, bathroom's over there, have fun!"

Alice came skipping down the stairs a moment later and dropped in beside me on the couch.

"You're freaking her out," I said.

"She's just getting used to things, that's all."

"Sure she is," I said with a smile.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she pouted playfully.

"It means, I think she's freaked out by your overexcited self," I teased, kissing her lightly.

Alice grinned. "You're in a better mood," she observed.

"She forgave me," I said, awed. "I tore her life away in the most vicious way possible, and she forgave me. It's sort of liberating ant the same time maddening. I don't understand _why_ she forgave me."

"Because it wasn't your fault," Alice soothed.

"It was, though. If I had better control—"

"Stop," she interrupted. "You're trying your best, that's all anyone can ask for. She was your singer, for crying out loud, how could you have stopped yourself?"

"Edward never hurt Bella," I pointed out.

"Edward's been at this longer. Edward also had witnesses. You didn't."

"So that makes it better?"

"No. I'm not trying to justify anything here. I'm just trying to show you her way of looking at it; you couldn't stop yourself, therefore it wasn't your fault. And since you're willing to try and make it up to her, she was willing to forgive you."

"Don't worry," said a voice from the stairs. "You haven't ruined my life or anything. You can't ruin what you haven't got."

The warmth I felt coming from her made me truly smile for the first time since I bit her. I turned to show her my gratitude for her forgiveness. It was then that I heard Alice grumble in frustration. I looked to my wife in confusion, she was taking in Dana's appearance with obvious distaste. I looked back at Dana and saw immediately what the problem was. She was wearing knee-length shorts and a sleeveless t-shirt with her long brown hair pulled into a high ponytail which was still damp from her shower. These clothes were clearly not from Alice's selection.

"Dana!" Alice whined.

"Alice!" Dana mocked, copying Alice's voice nearly perfectly.

I laughed and both stopped staring each other down and smiled at me. "What?" I asked.

"You laughed," Alice said.

"Yeah," said Dana. "You've been Mr. Mopey all day."

I smiled. "I guess I'm allowing myself to be happy since you forgave me."

"So you're forgiving yourself?" Dana asked with a tinge of hope.

"No," I said. "I'll forgive myself when I'm sure you're well and happy with this life."

"Fair enough," she said, nodding.

"So, Dana," Alice changed the subject. "Tell us a bit about yourself, what can you remember?"

"Um... ugh, it's like looking through frosted glass," she complained.

"I know," she said. "Can you try?"

Dana nodded and began her story. She told us about how her parents were dead and how neglect of her foster parents led to being moved into a group home in Port Angeles which led up to why she was in Forks in the first place.

"How did your father die?" Alice asked. "If you don't mind me asking."

"No it's alright. I don't know how he died. He just sort of disappeared one day and never came back."

"And your mom?" I asked.

"Attacked by some wild animal or something. I was picked up from school by some cops and was asked to identify the body," she shuddered. "I was eight years old at the time."

"Oh my God!" Alice gasped, covering her mouth to stifle a sob. "Did they ever identify what attacked her?"

"No. She had a nasty tear in her throat, though. Right about here," she gestured with her hands just under her chin where her pulse would beat if she were still human.

"That's it?" I asked. This was starting to make me feel sick, if that were possible. "No other wounds? Scratches? Bites?"

"No..." she looked at my horrified gaze for a second until something clicked. "You don't think that..." she trailed off, unable to finish her sentence.

"No other animal would go for the throat like that if they weren't going to eat at least some of the catch," I said.

"You think... that a vampire...?" Alice said, trailing off like Dana.

"Of course," said Dana, flippantly. I could feel her pain but she was suppressing it—amazing! She was only a day old, not even! "Of course my mom would be killed by a vampire and then I go and get myself changed into one. Vicious irony!"

"You didn't get yourself—" I started.

"Not helping," said Alice, cutting me off.

Dana took an unnecessary breath to calm herself down. I added a little of my own bottled calm to help out. "Sorry for that," she said. "I didn't mean to fly off the handle like that."

Alice choked on a laugh. I felt dumbstruck, probably looked that way, too.

"What?" she asked, confused.

"That was _not_ flying off the handle," I said. "You're not anything like how a newborn usually behaves. You're very calm for one. How are you able to suppress your emotions like that?"

"I've had a lot of practice since my mom died. My foster parents were horrible and hit me whenever I cried. They always said 'Stop that crying or I'll give you something to cry about.'"

"What!" Alice looked incredulous. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard! You cry because you have something to cry about, people don't cry just for the fun of it!"

"Yeah, well, like I said; I've had loads of practice."

"That must be it!" I said, happy to have gotten to the bottom of her strangeness at last. "That's why you're so controlled; you had to control your emotions when you were a kid so it comes naturally to you now."

"Oh," she said, lamely. "I guess seven years of practice at something is bound to make a difference."

"Yeah, it would."

There was a lull in the conversation, where we all just sort of looked around awkwardly. Something she just said was nagging at me and I was trying to figure out what it was. Then it hit me; she said 'seven years.' Seven years from when she was orphaned. At eight.

"Dana?"

"Hmm?"

"How old are you?"

"Fifteen and a half."

I was completely thrown by this statement. Fifteen! So young to loose her life! I was sinking back into my despair. I must have been projecting because Dana took my shoulder and shook me forcefully, making me slightly dizzy in the process and nearly knocking me over.

"Hey! I forgave you, remember? Don't you go all mopey on me again."

I smiled weakly for her benefit.

"I thought you were a Senior?" Alice asked.

"I am," she said. "I'm supposed to be a Sophomore but I skipped a couple grades in elementary."

"And you have a car," she pointed out.

Dana shrugged. "You can get your license at sixteen in Ontario. I have my permit. I just flash that at cops when I get pulled over."

"Oh."

"Anyway, what's the big deal about my age? What's wrong with being fifteen?"

I looked her up and down and reflected on her behavior as a newborn. She didn't seem outwardly young, she didn't get out of control, and according to Alice, Dana would be safe around humans in less than two months time. I never bet against Alice.

"I guess it's nothing," I said. "There's nothing wrong with your age."

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**A/N: Hope you enjoyed that chapter, keep an eye out for seventeen possibly tomorrow. Remember, reviews make me write faster!**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: I'm really on a roll here! I'll see about getting 18 up tomorrow.**

**Chapter Seventeen  
**

**

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Jasper POV**

The days turned into routine.

We would start the day with hunting. I would help Dana refine her style so that she would make less mess of her prey.

Then we would move on to fighting. Every vampire should know how to defend him/herself. At first it was just basic defense, something a twelve-year-old would learn in a tai-kwon-do class except refined to work better against a vampire, but the basic structure was the same. But then, as Dana quickly mastered defense, she insisted on learning attack.

After fighting, we would sit down for a bit and share stories of our past experiences. Not just me and Alice, but Rosalie, Emmett, Esme, and Carlisle as well (Edward was still practically glued to Bella's side). This was our bonding time, and through this, Dana quickly made herself part of the family. Even Rosalie accepted her, if a little grudgingly at first.

Then came hang-out time. Dana would hang around and read, watch TV, or play video games with Emmett. As we ran out of books for her to read in her area of interest, video games with Emmett became more frequent. I would sometimes join in the fun as well but it was almost always more fun to watch them have it out. Dana was so much better at most of Emmett's games, like Halo, and Modern Warfare, that it usually drove Emmett up the wall, which was always fun to aggravate with my power.

After things settled down a bit from video games and whatnot, Dana would go upstairs to her room and write her daily letter to Bella. When that was done, she would usually sit up on the roof and watch the sky, waiting for an opening in the clouds so that she could see the stars.

It was here that I saw her at three in the morning, when Alice went to supervise Bella so Edward could go hunt.

"Hi, Dana," I said softly, not wanting to disturb her.

"Hi, Jazz."

"Whatcha lookin' at?"

"The sky."

"You do that a lot."

She just nodded in response.

"Why," I had to know.

"It calls to me."

I had to do a mental rewind for that one. "What?"

"The sky, it's like it's saying 'come to me, Dana', I wish I could."

"What do you mean? Could what?"

"Go to the sky. You know I used to have dreams, you know, when I could sleep. I would dream that I could fly, just by jumping up and spreading my arms like wings. It felt so real, I could even feel the wind through my hair and there were people below. They didn't stare or shout or freak out in any way. It was normal for me to be able to fly, it was just something that was a part of me and people weren't afraid or anything.

"But then I would wake up and it was all just a dream again. I couldn't fly and if I could people would probably freak out and probably want to dissect me or something to figure out how I worked," she sighed with longing of that dream. "But I know that was never going to happen, humans don't fly unless they're in a huge metal tube that goes 600 miles per hour. But I had the next best thing all planned out..." she looked at me with the only hint of remorse I had yet to see in her and for that matter, feel. She turned away, probably unwilling to give me a reason to hate myself more for taking her life. But she opened a can of worms, I needed to know.

"What was the next best thing to flying?" I asked.

She hesitated for a moment, deliberating. The look in my eyes was one of determination, there was no way she was getting out of telling me. She sighed in defeat. "I was working toward becoming an astronaut. The next best thing to flying was no gravity."

"Oh." Now _that _was something to live for. Being an astronaut, not some little kid's dream, but an honest to goodness determination to go into space. And I took that away from her. Sure she could still go on a shuttle to Mars, but astronauts are in space, sometimes for months. How would she hunt? How would she keep herself from killing her crew mates? It just wasn't possible. I vowed then that, one day, she would go into space, and I would make that happen, there had to be a way.

Instead of "moping" as Dana put it, I smile slightly at her. "Sounds like you dream big."

She brightened at my lack of negative response. "I definitely do. But there is another next best thing I _can_ do."

"Oh really? Do tell."

She laughed and instead of telling me, she showed me and leaped high off the roof, jumping higher than the nearest treetops. She alighted on a high branch an leaped from there, arcing even higher into the sky, laughing the whole way. She was almost flying.

The clouds parted then, reviling the shining expanse of stars beyond. Dana stopped in her antics and stared up in wonder. "It's so beautiful," she gushed, tree-hopping back to her usual perch on the roof.

"Hopefully the weather holds till the morning and I can finally show you what happens in the sunlight," I promised.

"Is it cool?"

"I suppose it is."

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**A/N: I know it's a bit on the short side but you get another one tomorrow so untill then, R&R!**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: As promised! Just so you know I never go back on my promises, as a result, I hardly ever make promises, but because I promised you guys another chapter ASAP, here it is. Just to warn you though, I'll be going back to once a week, because I'm getting close to the end of what I have typed out, but by no means is the story almost over, I just don't want huge gaps in postings. Anyway, ta!**

**Chapter Eighteen  
**

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Jasper POV**

The next morning just after hunting, Alice and I found a great place to show Dana what happens in the sunlight. We actually stumbled upon it by accident. It was a quiet little clearing surrounded by redwoods on all sides and the sun just coming up over the tree tops.

"Come on, Dana," Alice squealed in delight, tugging on the newborn's hand and really getting nowhere. I chuckled at the sight of them; Dana nonchalantly holding herself against Alice's excited tugging, not budging in the least.

"Alice, darlin' why don't you leave her alone," I said soothingly. "She'll come when she wants to."

Alice pouted and walked over to me. I slipped my arm around her waist and pulled her close. We were standing just outside the clearing, which was surrounded by redwoods and had the sun just coming up over the tree tops.

Dana stared at the clearing. I could feel awe coming off of her, and a little excitement. I couldn't ever remember walking into the sunlight for the first time to be exciting, but to each his own. Dana was excited to find out what would happen.

As she continued to stand there staring, Alice huffed with impatience, so I decided to help things along just a little. I subtly increased Dana's own excitement just enough to where she would make herself impatient. Sure enough, Dana took an unnecessary breath and stepped into the sunlight.

She gasped in delight at the iridescent glow, coming off her skin, creating little rainbows, refracting in every direction. She waved her arm around for the effect and the rainbows danced. She laughed delightedly.

The peaceful moment was shattered, then, by Alice's gasp and the wave of panic I felt from her. That's when I smelled it. I hadn't realized how close to the Quillieut border we were until that moment.

Four wolves came crashing through the undergrowth straight towards the clearing. Dana jumped to my side, baring her teeth in a snarl at the intruders. I allowed massive amounts of calm to smother the whole area and laid a hand on Dana's shoulder to intensify the effect for her. No need for her to go full newborn at a time like this.

I recognized the one called Sam in front, from what I understood, he was the leader of the pack. The other three wolves were snarling at the three of us. I felt a jolt of fear from Dana and I remembered my promise to make sure she was never afraid.

"Is there a problem?" I asked Sam.

He gave me a stern look in response, then turned into the forest, walking away through the trees. The other three remained where they were, standing menacingly in a V formation. I vaguely recognized the russet one in the middle, having seen him around, but I didn't know his name. In the meantime, Sam came back in his human form, wearing nothing but torn jeans. He took his pace in front and slightly to the left of the russet wolf, the Alpha's place beside his second.

"Why are you so close to the border?" he asked.

"We haven't crossed it, we're perfectly welcome to wander our side of the boundary line," I said, sidestepping the accusation.

He glared and the russet wolf snarled. "Calm, Jacob," he said to the wolf. "Who is this?" he asked looking disdainfully in Dana's direction, paying special attention to her red eyes.

"This is Dana," I said adding more calm to the air. "She's new, and she hasn't hurt anyone."

"New?" he looked shocked, I could feel an odd twinge of something close to sympathy coming from him toward the scared girl next to me. "How new?"

"Close to three weeks."

There was a collective gasp (or as close to a gasp as a wolf can get) among the wolves. One actually took a step back in fear. The other wolf that wasn't Jacob took one step forward, snarling.

"Enough, Paul," commanded Sam. Paul fell back in line, though he was still baring his teeth menacingly. "You say she hasn't hurt anybody," he said, turning to me. "What exactly do you mean by that?"

"I mean, she hasn't hurt _anybody _in any way, shape, or form. She's never even _seen_ a human, let alone tasted their blood."

"Why are her eyes red, then?" Sam accused. "Long ago, the pack was assured that the yellow eyed one were not a threat, but the red eyed ones..."

"All newborns have red eyes, it takes months for them to change," I said, as if that were the most obvious thing in the world.

"You had better be telling me the truth, leech," he warned. "Because if I find out you're not, you and her will be nothing but small piles of ash."

And with that lovely image planted firmly in our minds, he led his pack away.

That afternoon, we all sat down and told Dana all about the wolf pack.

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**A/N: Me again! Okay, here's the deal: I will update next Wednesday OR as soon as I get five reviews. I'm not holding chapter 19 hostage, you get it on wed if I don't get five reviews before then, but if five different people review before wed, you get the chapter early. Sound fair? Okay, now REVIEW!**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Thank you to QueenOfWierd1995 for being my only reviewer last chapter :) I might have been really sad today if you hadn't reviewed, so thank you!**

**Chapter Nineteen  
**

**

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Bella POV**

Life goes on as usual. For the first little while, people wondered where Dana had gone, why she had stopped going to school. Then about a week after her "disappearance" she made the front page of the newspaper:

Teen Orphan Goes Missing!

_Police are still on the lookout for clues as to the whereabouts of Dana Quincey, 15. She was last seen at Forks High School in Forks and never came home. Her car is also missing; a 2008 Nissan Cube, blue. If anyone has any information leading to the whereabouts of Dana Quincey, contact this number..._

Then followed the numbers of the police department in Port Angeles and the one in Forks as well. The article was toped with a large picture of Dana. The article went on to describe the efforts of the search in great detail, interviews with students at forks high, her matron at the group home, and there was even one with Charlie:

"_My daughter is good friends with Dana, so this case is close to the heart. You can be sure that the Forks Police Department is doing everything it can to locate her," said Forks Police Chief, Charlie Swan..._

They managed to fill the entire first page with "We got nothin'." It was amazing really, that there wasn't enough news to put in the paper, that they needed to fill an entire page with a missing person they had no leads on.

I had to put up a show of worrying about my friend, which wasn't too hard at first, but her daily letters helped ease my anxiousness. I would come home every day after school, cook dinner and wait for Charlie to arrive.

"Any news?" I would ask him as a way of greeting.

"None yet," was always his reply.

Edward wouldn't leave my side for anything, it usually turned into an argument when I noticed he was getting thirsty and insisted he go hunt. Even then he would send Alice over to watch me. I don't think he's even _seen_ Dana yet. Sometimes I wondered if he was being a bit on the overprotective side, but I knew he was just trying to keep me safe. After all, I _had_ heard Jasper's stories about newborns, so his protectiveness wasn't exactly unexpected.

He still hadn't let me go down to La Push yet and I missed my best friend. Finally I had enough and invited Jacob and Billy over for dinner.

"But, Bella—" he started to protest.

"No," I said, cutting him off. "Jacob is my best friend and you can't keep me from seeing him. Billy and Charlie are both going to be here so he won't be trying anything. Edward, I just want to spend time with my friend."

There was no was he could resist my sad-eyes. The only one who could do that was Renee but that was only because I'd used it on her since I was three. It kinda looses its potency after the hundredth time.

"Fine," he said, relenting. "But I'm staying close by in case you need me."

"That's not necessary," I said. "Besides, you should take this time to go hunting, your eyes are getting rather dark."

"I'm fine and I'm not leaving you alone with that dog."

"You're _not _ fine, you're starving yourself, and I won't be alone, Charlie and Billy are both going to be here."

"But what if Dana gets loose?"

"Edward, even I know that's a thin argument. The likelihood of Jasper letting her out of his sight for even a minute is one in a billion, she tells me in her letters all the time that he's hovering around her like a cloud of gnats. Besides, if she did get loose and for some stupid reason came here, there's Jacob, and I highly doubt it'll come to that and I know you doubt it too. So go hunting, I will be fine."

So that's how I found myself alone in the house, cooking dinner for four, three of whom eat _a lot._

When Charlie got home, I told him we were expecting the Blacks in just a bit so he went upstairs to wash up. I was just taking the potatoes out of the oven when I heard a knock at the door.

"Hey, Bells!" Jake cried when I opened the door. He pulled me into a suffocating hug until I insisted I needed to breathe.

"Hello, Bella," said Billy. "Thanks for inviting us over."

I smiled brightly. "Well I was missing my best friend and you know Edward doesn't like it when I sneak off to La Push."

"That leech is far too paranoid, Bells," commented Jacob, wheeling Billy indoors and hanging up their jackets.

"Isn't everyone, lately," I mumbled.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jake complained.

"It means you're just as bad, Jake," he flinched at the accusation. "Nobody seems to think I have a brain in my head to think for myself. You think the Cullens are dangerous to me, Edward thinks the wolves are. When the truth of the matter is, I feel perfectly safe with the lot of you. I just need to remember not to do certain things around either group."

"Like what?" asked Jacob. "What do you have to watch out for around us?"

"Not pissing Paul off for one—"

"I would protect you."

"Yeah and so did Edward on my birthday."

"What happened on your birthday?"

"My bad luck happened, I got a paper cut, and the whole thing resulted in Edward standing guard over me while Emmett dragged Jasper out the door."

"What!"

"Jacob, calm down," Billy soothed. "Charlie's here, remember."

Jacob's hands were shaking just a little, but he took a deep breath and calmed down.

"As I said, Jacob, I'm in equal amounts of danger and safety with both groups," I said calmly watching his tremors subside.

He hung his head in shame. "I would never hurt you," he mumbled.

"Neither would Edward."

Dinner was a quiet affair, mostly comments about sports or the food. After dinner, Jacob and I got up to do the dishes. Charlie and Billy stayed at the table having suddenly found something to chat about.

"So, Charlie," said Billy. "I heard you were on a new case. What's that all about?"

"Oh it's missing person's report," said Charlie. "A fifteen-year-old girl went missing a few weeks back. Just disappeared without a trace, no leads, not a single clue."

"Where was she seen last?"

"Forks High, actually."

Jacob stiffened slightly. He was probably worried about snatchings from my school.

"And nobody's seen her?"

"Nope, poor girl. She just started going there a week before it happened, too. Bella took her under her wing."

Jake and I finished up the dishes and went back to the table to join the conversation.

"What was her name?" Jacob asked.

"Dana Quincey," said Charlie.

"And how long ago was this?"

"Almost three weeks ago."

Something in Jacob's change of demeanor told me that he knew exactly what happened to Dana. I excused myself and went upstairs. When I got to my room, I snatched up my cell phone from my bedside table. There was one text message waiting for me.

_I can't see you! _Alice.

I sent a reply back. _The Blacks came over for dinner. Jacob knows about Dana, he knows she was at my school and he's getting really suspicious. I think he suspects who bit her._

I didn't wait for a reply, instead I tossed it back onto my table and went into the bathroom and splashed some cold water on my face. As I dried my face off, I heard someone approaching the bathroom door. He had to be stepping louder than he normally would, because I usually couldn't hear Jacob's footsteps. I opened the door and came out into the hall.

"Bells," Jacob said softly, not wanting his voice to carry downstairs. "You know that girl that's missing?"

"Yeah. Dana."

"Yeah, well I know you know more than you're letting on. I saw her yesterday in the woods with the tall blond one and the short one who sees the future."

"They have names, Jake. Alice and Jasper."

"Don't change the subject! What do you know?"

I took a deep breath. "She was attacked just after school, my backpack got torn open as we were leaving so Edward and Alice helped me pick everything up. As a result, we were the last ones out. As we were leaving, Alice had a vision about Dana and went running off to help her, Edward read it from her mind and went off to help, too. By the time I got to the parking lot, Edward and Alice had pulled the attacker off of her and she started changing. So we took her back to the Cullen's place, Jasper offered to train her since he has the most experience with newborns, and a few hours before her change was done, Alice took me home and I haven't been back there since."

The whole thing was the truth. The only thing I left out was who actually attacked her. The more truth I told, the more easily the lies would come out. It seemed to have worked as he relaxed a little and looked a little ashamed at having snapped at me.

"I'm sorry for my behavior, I shouldn't have snapped at you like that," he said remorsefully. "I guess it's one consolation knowing that she won't be hunting humans and that her attacker is dead."

I tried to keep my face impassive but I don't think it worked, because he then shot out. "He _is_ dead, isn't he?"

"Alice and Edward took care of it," I said nodding slightly. I hoped that would be enough for him, because I didn't want to lie to my best friend. Somehow I don't think that announcing that Jasper broke the treaty would go over well.

He sighed heavily. "You realize I'm going to have to report this to Sam?"

"You don't really have a choice, do you?"

"No I suppose I don't."

"Jacob?"

"Yeah?"

"Dana's a good kid, even now. I know you don't like vampires, but you do realize none of this is her fault, right? She didn't ask for this and yet she's making the best of what fate has handed her."

"How do you know? You said you hadn't seen her since..." he trailed off.

"I haven't. She sends me a letter every day. Emmett drops it off every morning. Here wait right there," I ran quickly into my room and grabbed the shoebox full of Dana's letters. I quickly ruffled through them until I found the one I was looking for.

I brought the letter out and showed it to Jacob. "This was the first letter she sent me. Here read it."

Jacob took the letter sat down on the floor and read it. I sat down next to him and read over his shoulder.

_Dear Bella;_

_You wouldn't believe it Bells! It's a whole new world and the only thing I have to do to explore it, is to _be_. I can process things faster, I can see better, I can hear better, I can smell better, I'm stronger, I'm faster, and I have perfect recall. All of my senses are supercharged! It's amazing!_

_But through all these amazing things, there are the...less amazing things. When I first opened my eyes, I wasn't willing to trust Jasper or Alice. It was strange and I was scared. I mean, hell! I just woke up from three days of the worst pain anyone besides a vampire has endured. Oh wait you did, didn't you? (The other's were telling me stories earlier). Alice told me how you survived being bitten and came out of it still human, now _that's _amazing! I'm rather jealous._

_Anyway when Alice explained what that burning in my throat was and what needed to be done about it, I was horrified. My one consolation is that it doesn't need to be humans, so that's a relief. _

_I awoke two days ago so you're probably wondering why I haven't written to you before now and the answer is simple: I kept breaking all the pencils! It's so hard to control my strength, but Jasper says I'm doing much better than most newborns so that's comforting._

_Every day after I go hunting with Jasper and Alice, I come home and look at my eyes in the mirror. I keep waiting for the day when they start changing to gold. I'm determined to be able to see you again, Bells, you're my only friend (Jazz and Ali are more like parents than friends), so I'm working as hard as I can, so that I'll be safe to be around, cause I know you miss me too._

_ Big hugs,_

_ Dana_

I finished reading before Jacob, and waited patiently for him to finish. When he did, he folded the letter back up and handed it back to me.

"I think you have a good friend in her," he said.

I beamed. "So you'll include her in the treaty?"

"I'll talk to Sam about it, but the chances are good."

"Do you need to take the letter so he can see it for himself?"

"Yeah, that would be a good token."

I handed the letter back. "Just don't ruin it, I want to be able to read these letters further down the line and have a smile at the good ol' days."

He smirked. "Sure, sure."

We came downstairs just as Billy was about ready to leave. Jacob helped him into his coat and then slipped his own on, stowing the letter safely in an inside pocket.

"Thanks for dinner, Bella," Billy said.

"No problem, anytime," I replied.

"Yeah thanks, Bells," said Jacob, and gave me another of his bone-crushing hugs before wheeling Billy out the door.

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**A/N: Please review and if you like this story, it would make me so happy if you recomended it :D (does that make me sound desprate?) Love you all! R&R!**


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: Okay, so I thought I posted this last Thursday, but I guess the Internet was being retarded so sorry for the delay. I guess this explains the lack of reviews lol :)  
**

**Chapter Twenty  
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Jasper POV**

Alice came flying down the stairs in a blur, Dana at her heels. I looked up from the newspaper article topped with a huge picture of the girl Dana once was.

"I can't see her! She's gone and I bet she went sneaking off again!" Alice cried.

It took me about half a second to deduct that she was talking about Bella. "Calm down," I soothe gently. "Where was she before she disappeared?"

"Talking to Edward. She asked if she could go visit Jacob and he insisted it wasn't safe. Then she gets up to go to the bathroom, taking her cell phone with her and disappears!"

"But Edward hasn't let Bella out of his sight," Dana chipped in. "She says so in her letters. It would be kinda hard for her to just sneak off."

"Very good point, Dana, thank you," I said nodding my head in her direction. "It sounds to me like Bella didn't like being told she can't see her friend so since she can't go to him, she invited him over. Nothing to panic about."

"But, Jasper! He's a _wolf!_"

"Wolf or not, he's Bella's friend and she trusts him. As soon as you question her faith in them you question her faith in us. Do you think her faith is misplaced in us?" Dana said with a hint of irritation. Wow, this coming from the girl who hid behind me at the sight of four wolves yesterday. "She _has _got a brain in her head, why don't you let her use it."

That brought Alice up short. "I just... I worry about her."

"We all do," I said, gently. "But Dana's right, we should let Bella make her own decisions."

Despite our little pep talk, Alice was still fidgety for the next few hours, waiting for some word that Bella was alright. Every now and then, I would send a little calm her way whenever her anxiousness was getting to be too much. Dana just sat calmly rereading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows for the twelfth time.

I was about to calm Alice down for the fifty-second time, when her cell phone suddenly beeped, making her leap out of her seat. She checked the message and I suddenly felt a wave of dread pour off of her.

"Alice?" I asked in concern. "What's happened?"

Dana looked up from her book, full of anxiousness.

Alice handed me the phone and I read the message from Bella: _The Blacks came over for dinner. Jacob knows about Dana, he knows she was at my school and he's getting really suspicious. I think he suspects who bit her._

Oh, no! This was no good. If the pack finds out I broke the treaty, it'll be war on the whole family, not just me.

I quickly sent another message back: _This is Jasper: Are you sure he knows? I need to be one hundred percent sure he and the pack won't start a war, because it's not just me who will be in danger, it'll be the whole family._

I waited impatiently for the reply. Dana and Alice's impatience was rubbing on me making my own even worse. I stood up and began pacing.

Twenty minutes later, I finally got a reply: _Okay, I think I may have diverted a disaster here. I told Jacob what happened, minus who actually bit her, and I convinced him to talk to Sam about getting Dana included in the treaty. I really hope it doesn't come to a war, I really couldn't stand that._

I breathed a sigh of relief. Dana and Alice relaxed as well. Bella really knew how to talk people out of fights. I had to hand it to her, but there was still the suspicion of who bit Dana. I couldn't allow my family to be hurt because of my own mistake. It was my fault, not theirs. I had to do something.

Alice suddenly squeaked in alarm. "Jasper! Your future is gone!" she wailed.

I quickly bathed her in peace and calm. "I just have to go talk to them. It's alright, I'll be back before you know it." I kissed her. "Watch Dana until I get back."

"Watch me?" Dana complained. "I'm not a baby."

I smiled. "But you _are _a newborn."

She stuck her tongue out at me and I playfully ruffled her hair.

"I'll be back in a bit," I called as I left the house and headed for the treaty line.

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**A/N: Anyway, again I'm sorry for the late chapter, but I'll make it up to you; I'll add 21 as soon as this one is up :) R&R!**


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: Right on time :) I hope you like this one, it's sort of dramatic (maybe overly so:)**

**Chapter Twenty-One  
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Jasper POV**

I waited at the treaty line, knowing that someone would come along eventually and tell Sam. I stood on the border and waited. I didn't have to wait long, it was only a few minutes later that a young wolf ambled by.

I could tell he was young because his paws were too big for his body. He had sand-colored fur and his eyes were shut as he followed a scent, is nose was wrinkled in disgust at the scent he was following.

"Looking for me?" I asked.

His eyes snapped open and then narrowed as he snarled.

"I'm on my side of the line," I said hastily. This one was obviously new to the wolf thing and I didn't want to be on the wrong side of a misunderstanding. Young wolves were volatile.

He watched me warily.

"I'm Jasper," I said. "I wanted to talk to Sam. It's regarding the newborn vampire he saw me with yesterday. It's nothing bad, I assure you."

The wolf nodded once then threw his head back an howled. Then he sat down and waited.

Two minutes later, I heard the sound of two wolves racing their way to us. They paused for a moment, about sixty yards away and phased in the cover of the trees. Then, Sam and Jacob came jogging up to meet me and the sand-colored wolf at the treaty line. Sam spoke first.

"Seth said you wanted to speak to me regarding the girl?"

I assumed Seth was the young wolf watching me intently.

"Yes, it's about the one who bit her," I started.

"Yes?" he said expectantly.

"We'll, I've been trying to figure out a way to approach this delicately, and I've come to realize there is no such way."

"Approach what?" Jacob said impatiently. "Get to the point."

"Can you promise to hear me out before acting on what I say next?"

Sam stared at me evenly. "You said this had something to do with the one who bit her. What about him?"

I hesitated. I was afraid they would tear me to pieces the moment I told them and then move on to the rest of my family, but something told me that Sam would listen.

"It was me," I closed my eyes and waited for their response.

There was silence for a moment and I chanced a look at the wolves. Jacob was shaking from head to toe and looked like the only reason he hadn't phased and ripped me in half already was because Sam hadn't ordered it. Seth was staring at me with wide, horrified eyes. Sam... I felt anger pouring off of him in tsunamis, but there was also confusion and curiosity mixed in.

Sam took a deep breath to calm himself and then stared at me with cold, calculating eyes. "Tell me everything," he said in a tone I didn't dare disobey.

So I began my story. "I had come to the school to pick Alice up for a date I had planned, but she, Bella, and Edward were running late because Bella's backpack had torn open. Dana was running late, too because she had been to see the nurse for an ice pack, because some other girl hit her with a volleyball. I was just standing there waiting for Alice, and barely paying attention to Dana at all, when the wind changed and brought her scent towards me..." I looked away in shame. "I couldn't help myself. I didn't mean to... I just couldn't control it... I never smelled anything like her before, and I just..." I shuddered at the events that came next.

"Edward and Alice pulled us apart and then Bella came around the corner. Edward told her to stay back. It was Bella's horrified look that snapped me out of it. When we got Dana back to the house and she started changing, I vowed I would look after her and spend the rest of eternity trying to make up for what I did to her. I would make sure she didn't make the same mistake I did. So that she wouldn't know the horror of taking someone from everything they know and tossing them into a life they never wanted to lead.

"I came to tell you when I realized it would get out eventually. I wanted you to know that it was my fault and not theirs, so if punishment is being dealt for this, let it be on me. The others have done nothing wrong."

I waited for Sam to order Jacob to tear me apart and burn the pieces, but he didn't. He stared at me for a moment, he seemed to be calculating his next move carefully. I always saw that same look on Carlisle's face when the two of us would play chess. The silence dragged on and I was becoming anxious, Jacob was becoming impatient, and Seth was becoming nervous. But Sam continued to plan his next move, until finally, he spoke.

"I have decided to include Dana in the treaty. You're sure she won't be hunting humans?"

Jacob just stared at Sam in shock. I have to admit, that was the last thing I expected to hear at the moment.

I nodded to Sam's question. "Alice said she won't have a problem with this lifestyle."

Sam nodded. "Good. We'll that takes care of that," he paused for a moment, still calculating. Jacob's impatience was growing to mountainous levels. "I had better not regret my decision," he said. "Come on, Jacob, Seth," and he turned around an started walking back to his side of the border.

Seth got up and trotted behind him, confused as hell but unwilling to disobey his pack leader. Jacob, however, spluttered in shock, only half turning to stare at Sam's retreating figure. "Sam?" he asked in a tone that said 'aren't we forgetting something?'

"Jacob," he said in a warning tone.

"But what about the bloodsucker? He broke the treaty!"

"You heard him, Jacob. He vowed to look after her and make sure she never harms a human."

Jacob just stared at him in shock.

"You're not going to kill me, then?" I asked to be sure.

Sam cracked a small smile. "Don't sound so disappointed," his face became more serious. "I'm not going to kill you because you made a promise to that girl and I've decided that, since she's never done a wrong deed in her whole existence, she's undeserving of our wrath. That, and I believe the shame in your eyes."

He turned an walked away with Seth at his heels.

Jacob stayed where he was. "Part of me didn't want to kill you," he said. "Not for any love of leeches, but for my love of Bella. There's no way she would forgive me if I killed one of you."

I nodded. "I'm not deserving of Sam's mercy."

"I know you're not, but he gave it to you anyway and I can't do anything without his order, but a part of me is relieved that he spared you, but that doesn't mean I'll hesitate if he tells me to take your head off, so don't give him a reason." He turned to leave but paused, turning back. "I borrowed this from Bella, make sure she gets it back."

He handed me what I recognized to be one of Dana's letters before loping away. One glance at Dana's first letter to Bella assured me that it was this that spawned Sam's mercy.

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**A/N: Well? What do you think? After you review, you should check out my other stories, show them some love, too :) R&R!**


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: Okay so I'm thinking you guys are probably annoyed with me after I promised to have this up two days ago, I usually keep my promises but I keep getting sidetracked with another story I'm working on with Lil Mizz SunShyne X x . It's not up yet but we're still working on it. Oh and those of you who are still waiting on Flying into the Sunset, I'm really sorry it's been months since I last updated, I have it written out on paper, but I keep getting distracted, so I keep forgetting to type it up :s I'll get it up when I have the time to type a lot. In the meantime, you should read my other story (if you haven't already) Lukily Unlucky. It's Twilight with a slight crossover with Doctor Who, you don't even need to be familiar with DW to understand, though it helps if you've seen the episode "Blink" in season 3 of the new series.**

**Anyway, enough of my babbling, let's get on with the story. This chapter is rather short but not to worry, I'll try to get the next one up on Wednesday like usual :)**

**Chapter Twenty-Three  
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Bella POV**

Today was the day. It was the day Alice said Dana would be safe to be around.

I woke up feeling very happy. I got up and happily went through my morning routine. When I came back into my room, Edward was sitting in the rocking chair by my bed.

"You seem chipper this morning," he commented as I made my bed.

"Do I?" I asked absently.

"You seem distracted too."

"Hmm."

"What are you thinking?"

"Nothing of consequence."

"Bella," he almost whined.

"What? I'm entitled to my offhand thoughts that don't need to be voiced."

"Good morning!" cried a voice at my window.

"Gah!" I was about to sit on the side of my bed when Alice startled me, and I fell right off, landing on my backside on the floor and messing up my freshly made bed.

Alice's bell-like laughter filled the room. Edward chuckled too as he helped me to my feet. I straightened out my sheets while trying to hide the deep blush coloring my face.

"Good morning, Alice," Edward said. "What brings you away from your youthful charge?"

"I'm taking Bella to a bookstore. She mentioned needing some new reading material the last time I was here and I thought that that was the sort of shopping that would get her excited."

I laughed. "I do love books just about as much as you love clothes, Alice." I went along with her line of conversation. "But there's a catch isn't there? There's no way you would spend three hours in a book store watching me pick out books."

"Of course not," said Alice. "Picking out books wouldn't last half the day. We're going shopping for clothes and shoes afterwards," she beamed happily.

I groaned good-naturedly then smiled. "We'll I _do _need more books, and it would make you happy."

She squealed happily and hugged me tightly. "Come on, are you ready? Let's go right now!"

"Alice," Edward said frowning. "Bella hasn't even eaten yet."

"I can get her something on the way, come on! We're burning daylight!"

I laughed at her antics. "Go wait in the car, I'll be out in a minute."

She grinned and leaped out the window.

I turned to Edward. "Why don't you go hunting while I'm out, your eyes are getting a bit dark and Alice can look after me."

He nodded. "Do one thing before you go though," he said.

"What's that?"

"Eat something."

I laughed. "Sure thing."

I stood up on my toes and kissed him, he kissed back for a moment before pulling away. Always too soon. I hid my disappointment by picking up my sweater from the floor.

I headed downstairs and went straight to the pantry. I grabbed a granola bar from the box at eye level. I tore open the package and showed it to Edward to be sure he was watching and took a bite out of it, chewed it up and swallowed.

"There, I ate something," I said with a grin. "I'll see you tonight."

He smiled and chuckled lightly before placing a chaste kiss on my lips and ushering me out the door. "Have fun."

"I'll do my best," I called, heading for Alice's Porsche.

Alice drove away at a reckless speed. She chattered on about how much fun we were going to have and all the things we were going to buy until we were several miles away from my house. She stopped at the side of the road and seemed to watch something that I couldn't see. I waited.

"Okay, let's go," she said, turning the car around and heading in the direction of her house.

"Could he really hear us all the way out here?" I asked; she had kept talking for six miles.

"He could hear _me_," she said. "Five miles is about his range, but I had to be sure. He's gone hunting somewhere north of Rainier."

"Oh. Was it very difficult to keep him out of your head?"

"Not really, if I just keep talking about going shopping, it's pretty easy to focus on that."

We sat in silence for a minute.

"Is there anything I have to worry about?" I asked. "You know, things I shouldn't do?"

"I don't think so, just try to stay calm and keep your heart rate steady, don't go doing anything that will make it accelerate. And as always, try not to cut yourself on anything. The best thing would be to not make any sudden decisions so that I can warn you if what you're about to do is the wrong thing to do."

"Okay, I think I can handle that."

We pulled up the Cullens' driveway and I couldn't help the bubble of excitement that grew from finally seeing my friend again and being back at this house.

"Calm, Bella," Alice warned. "Once we get inside, Jasper will be able to help with that."

I nodded and took a deep breath. "Okay let's go."

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**A/N: Hope you liked it, and again I'm really sorry for the lateness. R&R!**


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: Okay so I'm late, I know, but technically I promised I would update on Wednesday, I didn't say _which_ Wednesday. But in all seriousness, life has been difficult lately. Long story short, I started college and it's a huge time guzzler, so since it's the holidays, I thought I would drop a chapter your way. So, without further ado: I present:**

**Chapter Twenty Three  
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Dana POV**

"Today's the day!" I crowed happily, bouncing on the spot.

"Dana, settle down," Jasper said, though he too was smiling.

"But I'm so excited! Alice went to get Bella and she said everything would be fine!"

"Yes, I know exactly how excited you are but you need to settle down so I can coach you through this."

"But Alice said it would be fine."

"I know that too, but this is just precautionary. Now would you please sit down?"

"Okay," I sat down right where I was and looked up at him expectantly.

Jasper shook his head at my antics and sat down in front of me.

"First of all," he started. "Humans smell a lot better than animals so you'll have the thirst to war with."

"That's why we went hunting last night," I piped up.

"Yes, but the thirst will still be there."

I nodded studiously. "I will _not_ bite my only friend."

"Good. Determination is good," he nodded approvingly. "The other thing you have to keep in mind is your strength. Bella is delicate and breaks easily, as easily as your pencils, so if you're even able to be that near her, handle her gently."

"Like when I was a kid, my dad got me a chicken egg to raise. When the baby chicken hatched, he said to handle him gently 'cause he's really delicate."

"Exactly like that," he said. "Perfect analogy, Bella is a baby chick, so handle her gently."

"Bella's a what-now?" came a voice from the stairs.

"Hi, Emmett," I called. "Jasper's coaching me, and I used the baby chick analogy."

"Today's the day is it?" he asked.

"Yep! Alice went to get Bella," my excitement was coming back full force. Damn crazy newborn emotions; they just hit you like a wrecking ball.

"Dana, I said settle down," said Jasper. "Or do I have to settle you down?"

I giggled. "You sound like a dad."

He stared at me, wide-eyed.

Emmett laughed. "Check out Daddy Jazz, crackin' down the law."

I giggled again. Sitting so close to him, I could feel the overflow of his embarrassment. "Don't be embarrassed, Jazz; you make a great father."

His embarrassment grew, but there was a happy warmth in it, too.

"Anyway," Emmett said loudly. "I thought you guys might want some help. What with Bella coming over and all."

"Yes," Jasper said, snapping out of his daze. "Your help will be much appreciated."

I suddenly heard a car turn off the main road and onto our super-long, super-hard-to-find driveway. I leaped up, a wrecking ball of excitement again. "They're here! They're here! They're here!"

Then I felt very lazy and lethargic. I flopped down on the couch, eyes drooping. "Hey no fair, Jasper," I whined tonelessly.

Emmett laughed.

"I told you to settle down," Jasper said with a smile.

So I tried to remain settled. Not too difficult with Jasper pumping lethargy into me by the gallons.

"Now, we don't know how you're going to react," Jasper said quickly. "So I think it best if you hold your breath until you run out of air to speak. Emmett and I will be there to make sure nothing goes wrong."

"Okay," I said. I took a deep breath and held it in and waited.

I listened to Alice's Porsche pull into the driveway and turn off. I heard Alice tell Bella to stay calm. Ha, we both have to stay calm for her safety.

Then Bella said, "Okay, let's go," and I heard the doors open and close as the both of them got out. Bella was louder in the way she walked. I heard her stumble and Alice caught her. She's so clumsy.

That realization of her weakness plus the sound of her heartbeat had something feral stirring inside of me. I quickly stamped it down. _She's a friend, not prey. Friend, not prey. Friend, not prey._ I repeated that mantra in my head until the feral monster inside eased back into hibernation.

Jasper gave me a look that said he sensed my internal battle and was proud of the outcome. I gave him a small smile in return, then turned my focus back to the front door which was about to open.

Alice came in first, all smiles. She turned and took the hand of a girl who looked very familiar. I hadn't seen her since I was human, but I knew who she was at first glance.

"Hi, Bella," I said, using as little air as possible.

"Hi, Dana," she said in return. Her voice was so different from my family's; less musical. She seemed to be mesmerized by what I assumed was my new beauty, my new musical voice too, probably.

The thought of her distracted by my natural traits as a predator had me squashing down the feral beast again. _Friend, not prey._

She took in my guards on either side of me. "Are you sure she's okay?" she asked Alice.

"Jasper says it's for precaution," I said with a smile.

"Okay," she sat down across from me in one of the two armchairs. "So, how have you been? I know you've been sending letters but it's usually easier to say stuff out loud."

I frowned. "Hold on a sec, I'm almost out of air."

Jasper watched me cautiously and Emmett put a hand on my shoulder. Alice nodded encouragingly, and Bella watched curiously. I inhaled a little through my mouth and winced. The feral beast snarled and leaped, I fought to shove it down again. I could taste her scent in the air and the monster in me wanted more. I clenched my teeth to keep from snapping at her, I balled my fists and held myself stiff to keep from leaping at her, and I shut my eyes to try and focus better. Jasper and Emmett had a hold of my upper arms in a tight grip, but I knew it wasn't tight enough if I was going to break away. The thought of how thin my bonds were had the beast leaping inside, trying to find a way to that alluring scent.

_Friend, not prey! Friend, not prey! Friend, not prey! Friend, not prey! Friend, not prey! Friend, not prey! Friend, not prey! Friend, not prey! _

The beast within growled in indignation and finally relented, allowing me to relax again. At some point, I had started breathing through my nose and the scent was much stronger this way so I went back to breathing through my mouth. Jasper sensed my change and released my arm, Emmett followed his lead and released me as well.

"Are you okay?" Bella asked me with concern.

I nodded. "Yeah," I smiled. "I'm good, by the way how have you been?"

She seemed taken aback by me suddenly going back to the question she had asked nearly a minute ago. "I've been good," she finally let out, relaxing now that she was sure I was in control. "Edward has been watching me like a hawk, though. I had to resort to inviting Jacob over several times because he wouldn't let me go down to La Push to see him."

"I've had similar surveillance here," I remarked, looking a Jasper accusingly. "Though, it's for everyone's safety that I don't get loose and go on a rampage or something."

Emmett chuckled.

"Not funny, Emmett," said Jasper.

"I know, but I got this mental image of Dana the size of Godzilla stomping her way through Seattle," he sniggered.

Bella giggled, and I grinned.

After that we just sat around and chatted, catching up and filling in bits and pieces that were left out of our letters. When it became apparent that I would have no more relapses of control, Emmett wandered away to the TV, Jasper and Alice lounged on the loveseat, and Bella moved to join me on the sofa. We chatted animatedly for hours, I think that was the most Bella has ever spoken in one sitting.

When Esme came home, she didn't think anything off about Bella and I being in the same square mile let alone next to each other on the sofa. She just greeted us warmly, asked Bella if she wanted anything to eat and then went to the kitchen to prepare something despite Bella's denial that she wasn't hungry.

When Carlisle came home, however he did the funniest double take you ever saw.

"Bella?" he asked in confusion. "When did you get here?"

"This morning," she said as if nothing was amiss. "Alice came and got me. I'm hanging out with Dana, and I have the strong impression that Esme is cooking something for me despite me telling her_ I'm not hungry_." She raised her voice in the direction of the kitchen on the last three words.

"You're going to eat something, Bella," Esme called back.

"Hi, Carlisle," I said to snap him out of his confused stare.

His golden eyes met my rust-colored ones and then took in the way I was sitting not half a foot away from Bella and breathing easily as if I had been at it for decades. Then he smiled proudly at me before going upstairs to drop his work things in his office.

Bella and I talked a bit more until Alice suddenly stood up.

"Now is the moment of truth, people," she announced.

"What does that mean?" Bella asked warily.

"Edward is on his way here, and he'll be a mite bit annoyed."

Uh oh. Would he take it out on me? Would he be angry with me because I allowed this to happen, and because I almost took a bite out of his mate? Yeah he'd be angry about that for sure.

"It's okay, Dana," said Jasper. "He's probably going to be most annoyed at Alice and me."

"Me too," said Bella, she adopted a deeper voice that sounded almost like Edward without the musical lilt that all vampires seemed to have. "'How can you not see the danger when it's staring you in the face?'" She changed back to her own voice. "He won't be very impressed with my latest trip to the land of impulsiveness."

"Don't worry, Bella," said Alice, giggling a little at her impression of Edward. "It's mostly me he'll be angry at for putting the idea in your head in the first place. He won't even be very upset with Jasper because if Jasper hadn't known about my vision, he would never have allowed this to happen, no matter how much progress Dana was making."

"She's right," Jasper said. "I've seen too many newborns in action to have believed this was possible in less than two months without Alice's vision. I have a policy of never betting against Alice."

"He'll be able to hear our thoughts in six seconds," Alice said.

I could almost hear everyone counting out the seconds.

After six seconds I immediately started to defend my actions in hopes of calming him a little before he got here. _Alice said it would be fine, and I've been working so hard. She said I was ready, I didn't think it would be a great idea to test that theory on my only friend, but she said it would be alright. Bella wanted to go for it, you know how she is; she wouldn't want anyone else to be in the danger zone when she could prevent it. Jasper wasn't too thrilled at the idea either, but he trusts Alice. And honestly, I don't think it would have worked so well with anyone else; Bella's someone I wouldn't want to lose, while everyone else are nameless faces. Try not to be too angry at us, no one got hurt and all the precautions were taken._

It was about then that he burst through the door, stalked into the room, and stood two inches from Alice, towering over her petite form. I felt calm wash through the room from the direction of Jasper.

"I saw that everything would turn out fine ages ago," Alice said before Edward could start yelling.

"That's still no reason to test that theory on _Bella!_" he growled in the most dangerous voice I had heard from anyone yet.

The sound of that voice made the feral beast inside me spring up and try to defend the mate of my sire. The bad side of that reaction was the beast suddenly becoming aware of the human sitting not half a foot from me. I quickly stamped on the beast. _Friend, not prey! Friend, not prey! Friend, not prey! _The beast snarled in annoyance, but I held it back with my mantra, until it finally relented and fell back into hibernation. I relaxed, having won the battle for the third time today.

I suddenly realized Edward's eyes were on me. My eyes widened in fright at the dangerous glare he sent my way. He heard the mantra, he heard the struggle.

"How could you allow this to happen?" he snarled at me. "Don't you know the limits of your control?"

That flared a bonfire of anger within me. _Of course I know the limits! I haven't killed her have I? I haven't even come close!_ Of course all that came out of my mouth was a vicious snarl as the beast leaped to defend itself.

Alice moved Bella away from the blast zone and Jasper and Emmett were suddenly holding both my arms. I managed to easily rip my arm free of Jasper but Emmet grabbed it while he came around front, and pushed me back by my shoulders, filling me with calm and peace as he did so.

"Dana, focus," he said soothingly as he glared at Edward. "Come on, do whatever it is that you did before."

Somewhere in my mind dwelt the rational part of me. It fought through the thick cloud of anger to the surface of my mind. I pushed the anger away using Jasper's calm to help. Now all that was left was to cage the feral monster. _You're unwanted, _I told it. _I am rational. I am calm. I am rational. I am calm. I am rational. I am calm. _Finally (though only a couple of seconds passed), I locked the snarling beast inside its cage, and I relaxed again. Jasper nodded at Emmett and he let me go.

Once he was sure I was rational again, Jasper rounded on Edward. "You've seen at least three newborns before Dana and you think it's a good idea to _anger_ one?" he asked. "How stupid are you? You may have been able to defend yourself but what about Bella? She was _right there!_ Do you _think _before you open your mouth?"

"Jasper," Bella and I said at the same time. By now, Esme, Carlisle, and Rosalie had joined us.

"No, you two, he needs to hear this," he turned back to Edward. "I know you're angry, I would be too if I were in your position, but I wouldn't have yelled at a newborn for something that's not really her fault. You should have known it would send her off the deep end. She was worried enough that you'd be angry at her, but then you go and accuse her of not knowing her limits when you just saw, first hand, how in control of herself she is. Any person proud of that accomplishment would be mighty pissed at such an accusation. So next time think before you open your big fat mouth."

Silence rang in the room. Edward stared in shock.

"I'm done," Jasper said after the silence dragged on for awhile. "You can speak now."

Edward turned to me. "I'm sorry I yelled at you, it wasn't really your fault and I _did_ overreact. Will you forgive my unfair accusation?"

I was floored by the apology; I wasn't expecting that at all. I nodded. "I'm sorry I snarled at you," I said, ashamed of my insane overreaction.

"It's fine, I should have known you'd react that way. Jasper's right, I wasn't thinking."

I nodded again.

He turned to Bella. She opened her mouth to explain, but he held up a hand to silence her. "It's alright, I think I understand your motivation. Just to be clear, Alice told you nothing could go wrong?"

She nodded.

"Okay," he turned to Alice. "You, however, are in big trouble."

He didn't say anything else to her but turned from her back to me. "Your control is amazing, by the way." I knew he was partially tacking back his earlier accusation while at the same time praising me.

"Thanks," I said.

"So..." Esme said when an awkward silence grew. "Bella, are you hungry yet?"

"Sure," she said and followed her into the kitchen.

Emmett went back to the TV, Rosalie went to sit with him, Carlisle went back to his office, Alice disappeared upstairs and then it was just me, Jasper, and Edward, standing awkwardly around.

"You did a good job raising her," Edward said to Jasper.

Jasper shrugged. "It was mostly her own natural talent, and her determination to see her friend again." He smiled proudly at me. "She's come a long way in just over six weeks."

"You sound like a father showing off how well his daughter grew up," Edward commented.

Rosalie looked up from the TV and stared jealously at the back of Jasper's head. I knew he could feel it.

"Dana mentioned something like that when I told her to settle down earlier, or I would make her settle," Jasper remembered.

"Well, you're like my father, Jasper," I said. "You created and raised me."

Jasper looked dazed. Standing so close to him, I could feel some of the things he was feeling. Warmth, happiness, pride, awe.

Edward smiled. "You're a lucky man, Jasper; you have a daughter and you didn't even think to ask for one."

Rosalie looked away again, obviously annoyed. She always wanted a child. Not quite the way Jasper got one, but she always wanted someone to call her momma.

Emmett looked up. "That makes me your uncle and Rose your aunt," he grinned at me.

"Yep," I said, walking over to them. "My favorite aunt and uncle."

Rosalie looked at me and smiled. She liked that idea. Emmett loved that idea.

"What about me?" Edward asked.

"Well, I guess you'd be my uncle too, but Emmett's still my favorite, he's more fun."

"Damn right, I am!" he said proudly.

Bella came out of the kitchen, having probably heard most of the exchange. "If Edward's your uncle," she said. "Does that make me your aunt?"

I thought about it. "Well for now, you're just my best friend," I said. "You're not my aunt until you marry him."

She wrinkled her nose as if the idea of marriage smelled bad. However, I noticed that Edward got a faraway look on his face. _Oh my gosh! He so wants to marry her! But Bella's not really the marrying type, what with divorced parents and all..._ She had told me before that her mother ground into her the idea of marrying straight out of high school never turned out right, but I couldn't see her with anyone else. Jasper told me that vampires mate for life so Edward would never find anyone else. It was a match made by the Fates. _I believe in you, Edward. You'll convince her to marry you one day, I know it!_

He smiled at me. "Thanks," he said in a vampire-only tone

"So if Jasper's your dad," Bella continued. "Does that mean Alice is your mom?"

Alice came flying down the stairs. And I do mean flying; she leaped over the banister as soon as she was clear of any obstructions and landed not a foot from me.

"I would _love_ to be your mom!" she exclaimed. "But there are some serious renovations I need to do to your wardrobe; no daughter of mine is going to be a tomboy!"

I laughed. "I'm frozen at fifteen, Alice, there's no way you can change my style at this point. That ship has sailed."

"I can try," she said.

"You can spend forever trying if you like but I only wear dresses and skirts on special occasions and you'll never change that. And even though you see that now, it's not gonna stop you from trying. But check out this future," I planned on tearing apart every dress she tries to force me to wear.

Alice gasped in horror, and Edward laughed. Everyone else looked confused. "You wouldn't dare!" Alice almost pleaded.

"You know I would, so unless you want me to make confetti out of the dresses you try to force on me, I suggest you not even try. You can totally try and convince me to wear a dress all you like but as soon as you try to force me into one: instant confetti." I stared at her challengingly.

Alice pouted. "Okay," she relented.

Everyone chuckled at how much more child-like my mother was than me. Bella's mom is like that too; like a little kid, while her daughter was forced to grow up quickly so she could look after her. But Alice can look after herself and I grew up a long time ago due to seeing the dead body of my real mother, the innocence of youth ripped away from me in that instant.

Jasper felt my sudden melancholy, recognized it from the other times I remembered what happened to my mother and what probably killed her, and gave me some cheer. I accepted it gratefully and smiled happily. Edward was giving me a sad sort of look that I had no way of understanding. I would have to ask him about it later.

We all hung out for a bit longer, Esme made Bella some dinner. Emmett told some jokes and we all had a good laugh. Alice tried to get me to understand the elegance of a peasant blouse, which made Emmett laugh. She also tried to get me to "at least wear this pink t-shirt" but I insisted that pink was a horrible color and Bella agreed, Rosalie even stepped in and said that I was more of an autumn anyway.

I mentioned that I played saxophone for six years and everyone insisted that I needed a sax so Edward and I could start a band. Carlisle actually went so far as to look up top-of-the-line alto saxophones for purchase. I told him to get a cheap one at first because I was bound to bite the reed too tightly and cut it in half, the mouthpiece too. Everyone laughed at that.

Finally the wee witching hour was upon us and Bella was getting tired. Edward decided it was time for her to go to bed and offered to take her home, which she agreed to as long as she could come back tomorrow since, it being the holidays, she had nothing better to do, having bought everyone's Christmas presents already. Edward agreed to that, nodding approvingly in my direction, and took Bella home.

After they left, everyone left me alone to allow me to perch on the rooftop, as per usual. I sat on the roof, staring at the beckoning sky, which opened up and began to snow.

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**A/N: So I hope this makes up for my extended absence. I won't be promising anymore exact dates from now on; college is just too hectic. I'll try to update lots before I start back up again though. Have a happy New Year. R&R.**


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: Hi again everybody, hope you had a good Christmas, and/or whatever else you celebrate this time of year. I'm still on Vacation so I had some time to update a little so here it is. I don't have much in the way of more writing but I'll post what I have. As you know, I'm not posting any promises as to when an actual update is coming your way so all I can tell you is this: I will post, when I post. Happy reading.**

**Chapter Twenty Four**

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Bella POV**

I hung up the phone and turned to Charlie. "Billy and Jacob are coming over," I relayed.

"Again? Wow we should go over there some time instead of dragging them all the way out here."

I smiled. "Date and time, dad."

He grinned. "So what is it this time?"

"Just to hang out. Jacob wanted to ask me something in person and Billy didn't want to be left home alone so he decided to tag along."

Half an hour later, I could hear Jacob and Billy pull up in Jarred's truck. I ran to the door and opened it. To my surprise it wasn't just Jacob and Billy, Sam was there too. They came up the walkway and Jacob wheeled Billy in.

"Hey, guys," Charlie greeted them warmly. "Hey there, Sam, wasn't expecting you."

"I just wanted to ask Bella something," he said politely.

"Well aren't you the popular one, Bells," Charlie grinned, patting me on the back. "Why don't you kids catch up while Billy and I go find something to watch on TV.

"Sounds good," said Jacob. "Come on, Bells." He took my arm and steered me away from the house where we couldn't be overheard.

This couldn't be good, whatever it was these two wanted to talk to me about, it had to do with the Cullens. Why else would Sam be here?

"What's up, Jake?" I asked, trying for nonchalant.

"Well, I called you yesterday," he began.

"I wasn't in," I said. "Why didn't Charlie tell me you called?"

"I said it wasn't important and I'd call later," he said. "But what concerned me was where he said you went."

My eyes widened. "You can't tell me where I can and can't go, Jacob."

"Jacob is just worried about you," Sam put in.

"I get enough worry from my dad, I don't need every werewolf and vampire in the state of Washington worried about me too. I can take care of myself, and I _do_ know what threats are. Believe me when I tell you for the millionth time: the Cullens are _not_ a threat to me."

"Yes we understand that," Sam said. "But from my understanding of the behavior of newborn vampires, I must express my confusion as to why you would go over there."

"Dana's not like normal newborns. She's more rational and she's more in control of her... more feral side."

"And how do you know that?" Jacob asked, suspicious.

"Alice had a vision. She knew Dana would be safe less than two months after her change."

"But you told me before that her visions weren't always accurate," Jacob accused.

"This vision was firm, some things are vague and can change with a snap decision, but others, like this, are definite."

"But how could you know that?" Jacob said, getting frustrated.

"Because I trust her!" I nearly shouted. "What part of that don't you understand? She's never given me a reason _not_ to trust her. Neither have the others. Get that through your head, Jake!"

"Okay, Bella, calm down," Sam said like he had to deal with emotional teenagers on a regular basis, and he did. "I figured there was some special circumstance. After all, you're not stupid. So I just wanted to know a few things."

I took a deep breath and calmed down. "Okay then, what did you want to know?"

"Well, first, when was the first time you went over there since the completion of her change?"

"Four days ago."

He nodded. "How was her behavior when you got there?"

"Well she started out holding her breath so she wouldn't smell me, but she needed air to talk."

"And?"

"She looked like she was fighting something off when she took a breath. Emmett and Jasper held her, just in case."

"So you were the test?"

"Not really, Alice said it would be fine."

"Okay, go on."

"Well, she regained control and then continued our conversation like nothing had happened. Jasper obviously sensed it was okay because he let go of her arm and Emmett did the same."

"And for the rest of the time you were there?"

"She was just fine for hours, I even sat next to her."

"But?"

"Well, Edward didn't know I went over there, so when he found out... well he wasn't very impressed."

"What did he do?"

"He just got really angry at Alice, which scared Dana and unlocked some sort of defensiveness in her. Edward's attention was drawn to her and accused her of not knowing her limits, which threw Dana for a loop."

"What does that mean?"

"Well she snarled at him and tried to attack him but Emmett and Jasper grabbed her. She calmed down with Jasper's help, and then Jasper started yelling at Edward for shouting at someone who is ruled by her emotions. Told him to think before he opened his mouth."

Jacob sniggered.

"And then?" Sam asked.

"Then Edward apologized to Dana, but refused to forgive Alice for putting me in danger. He still hasn't spoken to her since that day. We had a relatively normal conversation after that. Esme made me dinner. Then it got late, I was getting tired so Edward took me home. That's it."

"And since then?"

"Nothing worthy of note. The second day Dana took about fifteen seconds to get used to my scent when I walked in the door, but after that, no more incidents."

Sam nodded. "How would you rate her control?" he asked.

"I think, on a scale of one to twenty, twenty being Carlisle's level of control where he can be around fresh blood and not even be tempted, and one being the worst newborn who can't be within a mile of a human without trying to take a bite out of them. I'd say fourteen."

"And where would you place Edward on that scale for comparison?"

"Nineteen."

Jacob raised his eyebrows in disbelief.

"What about the one who changed the girl? Jasper?"

"Um... twelve I guess. He's alright as long as there's no fresh blood around. He's improved greatly since the incident with Dana, though. There was a time when he had to struggle to be in the same room as me. He's got no problem with that now."

"So in your opinion, nothing like what happened before could happen again?"

"Right. What happened before was a freak accident. Dana was to Jasper what is referred to as his singer."

"Singer?"

"Her blood sang to him. She smelled better to him than _anything_ he's _ever_ smelled before, nothing will ever compare."

"And how do you know this?"

"Because I'm Edward's singer."

Jacob gasped. His fists balled up and his hands shook. Sam laid a hand on his shoulder and I backed away a pace.

"Edward has never done anything except protect me," I said jumping to the defense.

"Of course," Sam said diplomatically, giving Jacob a stern glare. "So what you're saying is that now that he has smelled her scent, nothing will ever smell as good to him so he's in better control?"

"Exactly."

"Good. Now all that remains is to have a talk with the Cullens. You may be there if you want to."

"Okay, when?"

"Whenever is convenient. I was hoping to do it today."

"Okay, hold on a second," I took my cell phone from my pocket and dialed Alice's number.

"Hello, Bella. Care to tell me why your future is blank?" Alice answered cheerfully.

"Hi, Alice. Obviously that would be caused by the presence of wolves. Jacob and Sam dropped by to ask me a few questions. They also wanted to talk to the family at the earliest convenience."

"Okay... now is good I suppose, Edward is on his way back now from hunting and everybody else is having fun watching Dana and Emmett sparring. Dana kicks butt!"

I laughed. "Okay then, we'll be there soon."

"Bye, Bella."

"Bye," I hung up and turned to Sam. "Now is good, she said everyone should be there. I'll just go tell my dad where I'm going."

I went inside to find Charlie and Billy on the couch watching baseball and chatting.

"Hey, dad, I'm headed over to the Cullens' now," I said over the TV.

"But, Bells, we have company."

"Sam and Jacob are coming too."

He looked at me in confusion, knowing how much the Quilleuts disliked the Cullens.

"Have fun then, Bells," said Billy. "Tell the boys the same, kay?"

I smiled at Billy, grateful to him for covering for me. "Sure thing, Billy, see you. Bye, dad."

I ran out the door before Charlie could call me back, grabbing my truck keys off the hook as I went.

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**A/N: Well, there it is. You know the drill people; R&R!**


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N: Okay, I am officially taking this story off of hiatus and I'm going to attempt to update regularly. I just spent the entire afternoon re-reading this fic and after much dissecting, editing, and re-writing, I'm finally satisfied with this chapter. I actually had this chapter half-written for months, but I hit a wall and couldn't stand to write anymore Twilight fanfics. This is largely due to my new-found disdain for the entire fandom. However, I remember how much fun I had writing this and decided to continue.  
**

**This chapter is dedicated** **to **sportytc** who sent me the review that got my arse in gear :)**

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**25. Dana POV**

It was fun beating Emmett all the time. There was a time, earlier on, when I constantly found my face in the dirt because Emmett would always win. That was before Jasper trained me, now his face was the one in the dirt all the time. I challenged Alice to a match once and found myself in the dirt, I challenged her to a rematch and lost again, after awhile, I noticed I never managed to even touch her once and I realized that, due to her visions, I would never win against her. Edward either, it seemed, though Jasper said that, with practice, I would learn to block my thoughts from Edward and possibly win. I beat Jasper once. Just once. And that was impressive. Jasper was trained against newborns, he knew how to fight newborns, and I _still_ won. But just once, I have yet to do it again. But Emmett, I always won against him.

Emmett growled in frustration when I deposited his face in the dirt once again.

"How does that dirt taste, Emmett, 'cause you just ate it!" I taunted.

Jasper and Rosalie chuckled at my antics, but I heard a growl of frustration from Alice. Why would my mom be frustrated with my success?

"Damn wolves!" she cursed. Oh.

"What's going on?" I asked her.

"The wolves want to talk," Alice said holding up her cell phone. "Bella got a surprise visit from them at her house and now they're coming here to ask some questions. Bella's coming too."

I knew Alice was just irritated that she couldn't see. Other than that, she bore the pack no ill will, especially since Sam spared Jasper for his violation of the treaty.

"They'll be here _in a bit_," The way she said the last three words, you'd think they'd tasted bad.

About five minutes later, Edward showed up to wash up after hunting. He was out in about a minute, and then looked expectantly at Alice.

"Don't look at me like that, I don't know!" she huffed, exasperated.

I stifled a giggle. Edward smiled at me.

When we heard Bella's truck a mile away, we all went around front to wait.

Over the roar of the truck's engine, I heard Bella say, "Jacob, please!" she sounded annoyed. "Do try to be polite."

"Yes, Jacob," I heard Sam say. "Please be civil. We're not here to start anything, I just want to talk to them."

Jacob huffed in frustration. I guessed that he wouldn't have such a hard time being civil with us if Edward wasn't dating Bella. It was just Edward he ever got annoyed with from what I'd heard.

The truck pulled up and Jacob snorted. "Jeez, Bells. You drive like a grandma."

"Sorry for not having super human reflexes like everyone else I know," she retorted. "Besides, you're the one who told me the truck couldn't go past fifty anyway."

I giggled. Sam jumped out of the back of the truck and Bella and Jacob got out of the front. My giggle drew their attention. Jacob glared at me and I flinched before recovering, I glared back in return, adding a little growl that I knew Bella wouldn't hear. Jasper put a warning hand on my shoulder.

"Hey, Dana!" Bella called and stepped forward for our usual hug. Since I discovered I could safely touch her, this was always how we greeted each other.

"Hiya, Bells." I hugged her in return. I saw Jacob stiffen out of the corner of my eye. When we let go, he relaxed a little and I glared at him. "Stupid mutt," I muttered so Bella couldn't hear. "I'm not going to hurt my only friend."

Jacob growled in annoyance and Bella actually heard him. "What is your problem, Jake?"

He looked away. "Nothing," he muttered.

Carlisle stepped forward to avoid all other forthcoming arguments. "Sam Ueley," he greeted. "You wanted to speak to us?"

"Yes," he nodded politely. "I actually wanted to direct my questions to Jasper and Dana."

Carlisle raised his eyebrows, Esme looked worried, and Rosalie and Emmett shared a wary look. Jasper had thought it would be better that we not tell the others that he offered himself to the wolves a month ago. Of course, Alice was told, and me as well, then Edward picked it from our heads, and then Bella sent me a letter worried that the wolves would start a war so Jasper gave Edward permission to tell her. Only those in the know were unsurprised by Sam's request.

Sam noticed the range in reactions and pieced it together pretty quickly. He looked at Jasper. "You didn't tell them?"

"I didn't want to worry them," he said.

"About what?" Esme was looking between Jasper and Sam in confusion.

"I knew it was just a matter of time before Sam figured out one of us bit Dana, and I didn't want a war to start, so I went to him and told him it was me," Jasper explained.

"And he let you go?" Emmett was incredulous.

"Not quite like that," Sam corrected. "I could see the remorse and shame in him was true. He told me he vowed to spend eternity making up for it if he had to. I decided I would give him a chance to prove that he could do better." His tone made it quite clear that he would not be so lenient should the situation arise again.

"So you had some questions?" Jasper asked.

"Yes, I just need to be sure of everyone's safety."

Jasper nodded for Sam to continue.

"In your expert opinion, how controlled would you say Dana is?"

I opened my mouth to protest but Jasper cut me off. "Are you asking about safety around humans or emotionally?"

"Both."

"Well, as you can see for yourself," he gestured to the closeness of Bella, who was barely an inch from me. "She has no problem around Bella. As for other humans, however, we don't know; Alice hasn't seen her out of the house unless she's hunting with one of us. The whole county is on the lookout for her as she is supposedly missing."

"And emotionally?"

"Very stable for a newborn. When she woke, I half expected to have to wrestle her to the ground every twenty minutes, despite what Alice had predicted. I felt such intense emotions from her when she first looked at me, that I worried just that. But I was surprised when it shifted to... nicer emotions, and I was more surprised, pleasantly so, that blood was not the first thing on her mind, like it is with other newborns."

Jacob grimaced at the mention of blood and I rolled my eyes at him. I was getting increasingly irritated that they were speaking about me as if I weren't there and Jacob making stupid faces wasn't helping.

As Sam and Jasper were talking a tuned out and started staring around. I was getting bored and more irritated. How long was this going to take? I realized that as an immortal being, I had literally all the time in the world, but _man_ was I bored!

Jasper kept glancing over at me, sensing my restlessness. Uncle Edward was watching me, too. He could hear how bored I was.

_Jacob's such an idiot,_ I thought.

I caught a smirk from Edward, having heard my thoughts.

_Reeks too._

The smirk turned into a barely concealed smile.

_Hey, Edward?_

He glanced at me to show he was listening.

_Jacob loves Bella, doesn't he?_

Edward frowned.

_Bella says she's known Jacob since he was in diapers._ I suddenly had an image of a baby Jacob in an overly full diaper, and struggled to hold in the laugh.

His smile came back.

_That sort of means they grew up together._

The smile faded a little.

_That makes them almost family._

His smile was almost gone now.

_Jacob's in love with someone who's almost a sister to him._

Edward looked at me as if to say 'where are you going with this?'

_What is he? A hillbilly? In love with his sister, that's sick!_

Edward couldn't hold back the laughter that poured forth, neither could I. We both broke out laughing and everybody stared at us like we were lunatics.

Edward recovered first and apologized. I held my breath to stop my laughter, but I continued shaking with mirth, eyes bright, stupid grin on my face.

Jasper and Sam continued to talk and I continued to ignore them, this time seeking to distract Jacob. This proved to be more difficult, as he couldn't hear my thoughts, to I settled for pulling faces at him. Instead of distracting Jacob like I thought it would, my actions seemed more effective in distracting Emmett, who was trying his best to hold back his sniggering. An unexpected sequel to Emmett's barely concealed mirth was Jasper's distraction.

Suddenly, without warning, I felt heavy and lethargic once again, the first time being four days ago when I was too excited. I slumped to the ground, unable to hold myself up.

"Jasper!" I whined.

The wolves looked at me in confusion.

"I'm sorry, Dana, but you're being far too distracting right now," he replied. "You need to settle down—"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," I interrupted him. "'Settle down or I'll settle you down.' I got it, can get up now?"

He frowned at my petulance, but let off on the lethargy and I got up.

"So as you can see, I'm more than capable of handling her outbursts," he continued, turning back to Sam.

"What just happened there?" Sam asked, observing me.

"I calmed her down with my ability," Jasper explained. "I can feel what she feels and also add other emotions. It helps when she gets a little overexcited."

"Do you have to do this often?"

"Not often, no. This is only the second time I've had to do it," he gave me a stern look as he said this.

"I'm bored," I complained in explanation for my behavior.

"I noticed," he said smiling slightly.

In that case, I'll direct my next question to you, Dana," Sam said. "How is it that you're keeping such strong control over your emotions and instincts, when it's obvious that others in your position would struggle?"

I shrugged. "I dunno. Sometimes I feel like I _don't _have control over it, to tell you the truth, but the others keep saying how amazing it is that I'm doing what I'm doing."

"What do you mean about feeling like you're not in control?"

"My emotions jump from one to the other at the speed of light sometimes so frequently that it gives me emotional whiplash. I also feel like I have to constantly hold back the monster within, to keep from flying off the handle and leaping on the next person to get on my bad side," I glanced pointedly at Jacob as I said this and he just scowled at me. Again with the stupid faces.

"And what about around humans?" Sam asked, glancing at Bella and ignoring Jacob's scowl.

"Well, I've only been around Bella, and I've gotten used to her scent, so for the most part, I'm fine around her."

"What do you mean, 'for the most part'?"

I hesitated, not sure if I should tell him. I knew I should be truthful if I ever wanted to be added to the treaty, but all these prying questions were making me nervous.

Jasper put a hand on my shoulder and I felt calmer and more confident, so I continued.

"Sometimes, when the wind shifts, and her scent is unexpected, I have to struggle for a moment to remind myself that she's my friend and not my prey."

Sam and Jacob exchanged a look at this and my nerves jumped again. If I still had a heartbeat, it would be doing the Can-Can in my chest.

"Bella didn't mention this to us before," Jacob accused.

"It's only for a moment, I doubt if she even noticed," one look at Bella's astonished face, and my thoughts were confirmed; she _didn't _know. "I think I'm getting better though," I added hopefully.

At this new information, the two wolves walked a distance away to discuss what they had learned in the quietest voices possible so that even with my new supersonic hearing, I couldn't hear them from where they stood.

I looked nervously at Edward, who I knew could hear them, but he was focused intensely on what they were discussing. This only served to increase my anxiety. Soon, however, a look of relief passed over his face and the wolves turned back to face us.

"We have decided to include Dana in the treaty between your family and our pack," Sam announced. My lifeless heart soared. "However," he continued and I deflated a little. "As the girl is Jasper's responsibility, if she breaks any of our laws regarding the treaty, the punishment will be on both of their heads, so I suggest you keep an eye on her."

"I'm not a baby," I said indignantly.

"But you _are_ a newborn," Sam said in rebuttal. "I look forward to news of your progress."

With that, they left and Bella, after a shooting me a quick congratulations, went with them to drive them back to her house.

* * *

**A/N: I hope you all found that as amusing as I did. Don't get me wrong about Jacob, though; he's actually my favourite character, Dana's just a sarcastic little nut-bar. R&R!  
**


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